Social activity centre not on land allotted for it

The only social activity being run by the Bharat Sewak Samaj,on the basis of which the controversial Durga Das Foundation was allotted a prime chunk of land.

The only social activity being run by the Bharat Sewak Samaj (BSS),on the basis of which the controversial Durga Das Foundation (DDF) was allotted a prime chunk of land by the UT Administration,has been shifted out of the premises,it is learnt. On the land allotted for cultural and beneficent activity,the DDF is now running the Strawberry Fields kindergarten school. And in the name of cultural and beneficent activity,both DDF and BSS,headed by Brij Mohan Khanna and his son Atul Khanna,are running a stitching,embroidery and dress designing centre for women from the Government High School,Sector 24. The school is around 100 metres away from the land allotted to BSS to set up the centre.

Sources in the CBI,which is investigating the alleged nexus of Khannas with the Chandigarh Administration,said the Khannas got the centre shifted with the help of certain UT officials who allowed this so that the Strawberry Fields kindergarten school could be run as a standalone entity,without any interference.

A board displayed outside the government school says both DDF and BSS were running the centre and the women could learn stitching,embroidery and dress designing from 2 pm to 5 pm every day.

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We are looking into various aspects of the case and have come across certain startling facts,on which Atul Khanna was questioned. Certain officials of the Administration might also be questioned in the coming days, said a senior CBI official.

The documents dug out by the CBI,from the records of UT Estate Office,reveals how Khannas shifted the possession of land from one hand to another. They allegedly made an arrangement,taking other members of both organisations into confidence and allowed DDF to run a school from the land meant for cultural and beneficent purposes only.

According to the arrangement,the DDF offered to undertake construction work of the building on the land. In a meeting held by BSS on June 8,1998,it was held that the arrangement between BSS and DDF be considered final and permanent.

The members appreciate the decisions of Durga Das Foundation to incur expenditure on the maintenance and construction of the building. It was informed that the foundation has so far spent Rs 9.66 lakh as capital expenditure. In case of rescinding of arrangement by the Samaj,the amount spent as mentioned or subsequently incurred,shall become payable to the Durga Das Foundation, read minutes of the meeting.

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The documents also reveal as to how an arrangement with the DDF was made to bail it out from a notice of resumption of land,served on the BSS for various violations. The fate of the resumption notice is still not known.

Ill get it probed: Ram Niwas

When asked,senior officials of the Chandigarh Administration were not aware if any such centre was functioning from a government school. Secretary (Home-cum-Education) Ram Niwas said: It needs to get inquired into. I will get it checked and see how it happened. Despite repeated efforts,neither Brij Khanna,nor Atul Khanna responded to phone calls and messages.

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