Former Punjab Power and Irrigation Minister Rana Gurjit Singh
The Punjab Police arrested a Chandigarh-based businessman, Rana Hardeep Singh, for allegedly duping a farmer in a land deal. Rana Hardeep is nephew of Punjab’s former minister Rana Gurjit Singh and also owns a paper mill in Fatehpur Sialwa near Mullanpur in Mohali district. Rana Hardeep was arrested Friday evening after Mohali’s Economic Offences Wing completed its probe in a cheating case that was registered against him and his father Rana Mahinderjit Singh on December 25, 2016. He was produced in the court of Duty Magistrate in Kharar, which remanded him to two days of police custody.
When contacted, Rana Gurjit refused to comment on his nephew’s arrest. Gurcharan Singh, a resident of Milkh village in Mohali district, is the complainant in the case. “I entered into a property deal with Rana Hardeep Singh, his brother Rana Prabh Deep Singh and their father Rana Mahinderjit Singh through two property dealers Sarabjit Singh and Harvinder Singh a few years ago. I wanted to buy a chunk of land in Fatehpur village. The property dealers arranged my meeting with Rana Hardeep Singh in 2014. I quoted a price for buying 61.8 kanal land in the village in Mullanpur area of Mohali district. I paid Rs. 2.25 crore in three instalments to Rana Hardeep. But even after the full and final payment was given to him, he did not transfer the land in my name. He kept on giving me one or another excuse for not transferring the land in my name,” Gurcharan Singh told The Indian Express.
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“I became doubtful and decided to check the details of the land on my own. At the time of the deal, Rana Hardeep had told me that there was an outstanding loan of Rs 25 lakh on the land. But when I enquired on my own, I found that Rana Hardeep Singh had taken a loan of Rs 18 crore on the land from Co-operative bank’s Sector 34 branch in Chandigarh,” Gurcharan alleged.
After the discovery, Gurcharan lodged a complaint with the Mohali police in August 2015 and Economic Offences Wing carried out an investigation and finally registered a criminal case on December 25, 2016 against Rana Hardeep and his father Rana Mahinderjit on charges of cheating, fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
“Initially, the Mohali police kept on delaying registration of the case for two years. Then, once the case was registered, police did not make any arrest. Finally, they arrested Rana Hardeep Singh yesterday. I hope the police take this case to its logical conclusion and I get justice,” Gurcharan said. Inspector Ravinder Pal Singh, SHO, Mullanpur Garibdas police station, said, “After the EOW completed its investigations, we proceeded in the case and arrested Rana Hardeep Singh. Further investigations are on”.
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