The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Wednesday registered a case against 26 accused including private persons for committing fraud in the government funds related to the construction of Jang-e-Azadi Memorial at Kartarpur, Jalandhar. In this case, the VB has arrested 15 officers/employees including a private person who would be produced in the competent court tomorrow.
One of the 26 accused was Deepak Kumar Singal, owner of Deepak Builders and a resident of Raj Guru Nagar, Ludhiana. According to a VB spokesperson, Barjinder Singh Hamdard and accomplice, an IAS officer had allotted the construction of Jang e Azadi related works to their choicest contractor i.e Deepak Kumar Singla’s Deepak Builders regarding sewage treatment plant, landscaping, operation and maintenance, without adopting tender system.
Who is Deepak Kumar Singal?
Deepak Kumar Singal is the Chairman cum Managing Director of Deepak Builders. He is the founder & Promoter Director of the company. He was born in Nabha, Distt. Patiala and his formative years were spent in Mandi Ahmedgarh, Distt. Sangrur. He completed his secondary school education in the year 1974 from Mandi Ahmedgarh. His family was in the business of real estate & construction. However, his core interest in construction services prompted him to move to Ludhiana. There he formed Deepak Builders in the year 1990. He has more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry. He was awarded "The Businessman of the Year" in 2012 by the Chief Minister of Punjab, Prakash Singh Badal.
Deepak Builders role as mentioned in the FIR
Apart from this, by raising the issue of primary steel, Deepak Builders started purchasing primary steel (Tata Steel) from April 2015, without the approval of the executive committee at the behest of Barjinder Singh Hamdard and Accomplice CEO and around three months later (July 2015), Barjinder Singh Hamdard had got approval in the meeting of the Executive Committee to buy Tata Steel in the name of Primary Steel and paid crores of rupees to Deepak Builder.
What is Jang-e-Azadi Memorial Case?
As per the FIR, it was found that the funds released by the Punjab Government for the construction of Jang-e-Azadi Memorial in Kartarpur have been misappropriated causing huge loss to the state exchequer to the tune of crores of rupees.The construction of the memorial was proposed In 2012 by the then Punjab government. It was aimed at depicting the role the freedom struggle of India from the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to the independence of India, i.e. till the year 1947 so that future generations could be aware of the history and contribution of Punjabis in India's freedom struggle.
He added that various committees were formed by the state government to carry out the work of this project, in which Barjinder Singh Hamdard was appointed as the president of Executive Committee/Management Committee and supervised all the construction works of this project. He did not empower other members of the foundation pertaining to the rules and by-laws and deed of declaration of the memorial. Barjinder Singh Hamdard in violation of the said rules had allotted the construction of Jang e Azadi related works to their choicest contractor, Deepak Builders without adopting tender system.
A case FIR no. 9 dated 22.05.2024 under sections 420, 406, 409, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of the IPC and section 13(1)A read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered at VB police station, Jalandhar range. There are a total of 26 accused in the case including senior journalist and Ajit Editor-in-chief Barjinder Singh Hamdard. 15 arrests have been made.