‘Main accused renovated home with fund money’

SHO Dharmpal said: “We have recovered two cars from this man: one is an A-Star and the other is an Indigo. The cost of both the cars is around Rs 8 lakh. Apart from this,we have found a laptop and Rs 30,000 cash from this man. We have also found that he renovated his old house by spending something close to Rs 20 lakh,which he siphoned off from the money under the scheme.”

ADCP Jasdev Singh Sidhu said: “We have also sent a detailed questionnaire to ADC (D) Devinder Singh,seeking details of the scheme from which this money has been taken.” When asked whether the police have been able to trace the involvement of the ADC or whether the entire scam took place without the knowledge of the ADC,Sidhu said,“Investigations are still on,and till the time we verify things,we cannot say much.”

Laxman Singh and Varinder Kumar,who are in custody at present,will be produced in a local court on Saturday after their remand ends. “We will definitely seek further remand of both these persons,for there are many more things that we need to recover from them,” Sidhu said. The police have recovered Rs 9,000 from Varinder Kumar. Both are employees in the office of ADC(D).

The scam had been unearthed when Laxman Singh was found converting a savings bank account of the office of Additional Commissioner Development to current account without the information or the permission of his senior. He had siphoned off the money that had come to the Ludhiana administration for building homes for BPL families.