VB books ex-minister Arora, 10 officers in ind’l plot transfer scam

Chandigarh: Punjab’s former industries and commerce minister Sunder Sham Arora, IAS officer Neelima and 10 government officers were booked by Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) on Thursday for transferring an industrial plot to a real estate company and allowing it to establish a township by carving out plots.
Three partners of realtor firm Gulmohar Township Private Limited - Jagdeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Rakesh Kumar Sharma – were also booked.

The vigilance found that if this plot was to be sold as per the rules, the government would have got an income of Rs 600-700 crore.
The bureau had on October 16 last year arrested former minister Arora from Zirakpur while handing over a bag containing Rs 50 lakh to vigilance officer AIG Manmohan Kumar to help in clearing his name from the ongoing inquiries against him including a disproportionate assets case. Arora is still behind the bars.