Shanty to a big house — rise and rise of Ram Lal Chaudhary

Born and brought up in a remote village of Rajasthan, Chaudhary shifted to Chandigarh at the age of 19 in search of a better life. His elder brother, Bhawar Singh, was then working with fire brigade in 3 BRD Air Force station.

Chaudhary lived in a shanty in a slum Karsan Colony, phase-2 Ramdarbar. In 1996, the colony was razed and residents were allotted concrete houses in Sector 52. Now 64, he owns a big house in Sector 46 along with other properties. He is well-known in the finance circle of Chandigarh.

A colony leader, while talking about Chaudhary, said, “He was one of the many downtrodden people who had migrated from other states to Chandigarh, in the search of better livelihood. Chaudhary had started his career by doing labour and selling sand, bricks etc. He later went on to develop contacts with politicians, bureaucrats and cops. After developing a taste for politics, he contested 2006 MC election on the ticket of Chandigarh Vikash Manch, an outfit of politician Harmohan Dhawan, from Mauli Jagran but lost. He then tried his luck from Ramdarbar on the same party ticket but lost yet again. After that, he did not show any interest in politics and started dealing in property.”

A police officer requesting anonymity said, “We have information that Chaudhary has links with many people in the police uniform. A Manimajra resident had accused him of cheating on the pretext of providing him relief in a heinous crime from the court. When Chaudhary came to know about the police complaint, he returned the money. The complaint is still available with the Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by DSP Devinder Sharma and comprising of Inspector Narinder Patial, Devinder Singh and others. He is known for his connection at the top and people would usually fall into his trap. We are verifying if some people from government service invested through him.”

The first FIR against Ram Lal was registered in July 2000 for assault and attempt to murder, among other charges. He was arrested but the FIR was quashed in the Punjab and Haryana high court in 2001. In 2002, he was in the headlines for his involvement in Chandigarh’s rape-on-wheel case. A former bureaucrat of Haryana, who was posted in Chandigarh, had been named in the FIR as well. All accused were acquitted in March, 2014. In October that year, Chaudary, his daughter and another person were arrested in connection with the murder of a woman who was staying with Chaudary’s son. They were all acquitted in March, 2016.