Patwaris go on mass leave in Ludhiana after MLA’s ‘sting operation’ against one of them

All Patwar Union members in Ludhiana went on mass leave from September 25 to protest a sting operation done by in Lok Insaaf Party MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains, which purportedly showed a Patwari and his assistant taking bribe. The video was uploaded on the MLA’s Facebook page.

The Patwar Union has now demanded an FIR against the MLA for ‘defaming’ Patwaris. The MLA, meanwhile, hit out against the Deputy Commissioner for failing to suspend the employees in question even after watching the video.

The video dates back to September 15 when Patwari Sukhjinder Singh Sodhi allegedly sought a bribe of Rs 10,000 from one Manjinder Singh for mutation of a plot. “Manjinder informed me that the Patwari was seeking bribe and the work was not being done for the past six months. So, I gave him notes from my pocket, noted down the numbers of the notes. After Manjinder handed over the amount to Sodhi, we entered the premises.

However, the Patwari sped away in his car from the other gate. His assistant ran in the streets of Gill village and we caught him along with the Rs 10,000. Apart from this, he had additional Rs 25,000 in his pocket as well. The video was uploaded on my Facebook page which irked the Patwaris. Instead of suspending the erring Patwari, complaint given by them has been sent for an inquiry to the police commissioner….The other day, I had got one social security officer caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 for giving an inter-caste marriage certificate. Even he has not been suspended,” said Bains.

Meanwhile, Rupinder Singh Grewal, president of Revenue Patwar Union, said, “We object to the sting operation by Bains and supporters. He misbehaved with our union member and also posted a video on Facebook to defame Patwaris. We have demanded action against him. We have proceeded on mass leave from September 25 to September 29 and also on October 3, we will be staging a district level dharna at DC office.”