Actor Dharmendra land grab: Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrests two

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), Ludhiana, on Thursday arrested two persons for encroaching upon the ancestral land of Bollywood actor Dharmendra. The accused allegedly produced fake registration papers and illegally sold the land.

The VB, which had registered a land grab case against 12 people, arrested two masterminds of the gang — Rohit Kapila and Jaswant Singh — both the residents of Haibowal in Ludhiana. According to a source, a land mafia gang of around 30 people has been working on encroaching land for the last three years. Among them, only two have been arrested.

Satinder Singh, Senior Captain of VB (Ludhiana range), said: "Dharmendra Deol owns around 24 acre of ancestral land at Ajeet Nagar in Ludhiana's Haibowal Kalan. After selling most of the land in parts to different people, around 3 acres was left with him. Rohit Kapila, one of the accused who runs a land mafia gang, prepared forged papers and encroached the land around four years ago."

Kapila's partner Jaswant Singh allegedly produced fake witnesses and owners of the land and got the forged papers ready. Later, along with Kapila, he took over the land.

"Even administrative officials like patwaari and tehsildar were hands-in-glove with the gang. While a case has already been registered against the patwaari, the role of tehsildaar is also under scrutiny," said Singh.

Ravinder Sood, close friend of Dharmendra, who holds the power of attorney for the land, said: "The gang has been working on its plan for four years. They have even constructed some illegal houses on the land. Finally, action has been taken by the Vigilance Bureau. I am trying to contact Dharmendra but he is busy in shooting. Hopefully, I will tell him the whole matter tomorrow."

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