CHANDIGARH: Dr Anupreet Kaur Randhawa, currently posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Gurdaspur, was arrested on Saturday by Punjab Police in connection with alleged irregularities in the distribution of land acquisition compensation for the construction of National Highway-54 (NH-54), linking Jammu and Rajasthan via Amritsar and Bathinda.
Randhawa, a former SDM of Patti, a Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officer and the then Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA), was arrested by Tarn Taran Police following a raid at her official residence in Gurdaspur. The case, registered in 2019, pertains to the alleged embezzlement of government compensation funds meant for land acquired for the highway project. The amount involved is estimated at around Rs 1.63 crore.
Confirming the arrest, Senior Superintendent of Police of Tarn Taran Surendra Lamba said Randhawa was taken into custody in connection with the 2019 embezzlement case, which is also under consideration before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
According to sources, the land acquisition process for the highway project was carried out in 2019 while Randhawa was serving as SDM of Patti and CALA. Police had booked Randhawa and five others on September 5, 2019, after an investigation found that compensation amounting to Rs 1.63 crore had allegedly been fraudulently transferred to five individuals whose land was never acquired for the project.
The Punjab government had suspended Randhawa more than six months later after the then Deputy Commissioner of Tarn Taran, Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal, ordered an inquiry into the payment of Rs 40.6 lakh as land compensation for the national highway project.
In 2021, Randhawa and her brother, Sandeep Singh, were also booked in another case involving the alleged misappropriation of Rs 88 lakh from the state exchequer. That case was reportedly linked to the alleged Rs 1.63 crore compensation scam.
The matter first surfaced after a complaint by Navraj Singh Brar to the then Deputy Commissioner Sabharwal. The complaint alleged that between January 9, 2018, and February 11, 2019, compensation released for land acquisition was transferred into the bank accounts of five allegedly ineligible beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries named in the inquiry were Jasbir Kaur of Manawala in Amritsar, Rajwinder Kaur of Fatahpur Algo Mahmoodpura in Tarn Taran, Sartaj Singh and Gurjit Kaur of Kot Dasaundhi Mall, and Bikramjit Singh of Hoshiar Nagar in Amritsar.
Based on the inquiry findings, a case was registered at City Patti police station on September 5, 2019, under Sections 419, 420, 409 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.
The investigation relates to land acquisition initiated following a Gazette notification issued by the Central government on July 5, 2013, for NH-54 across six villages under Patti subdivision — Tatla, Harike, Nathupur, Buh, Marhana and Jauneke. During the probe, investigators reportedly found that the names of the five accused beneficiaries did not figure in the official acquisition notification. The inquiry also revealed that the compensation was allegedly released through authorisations bearing Randhawa’s signatures.