Ludhiana: The patwari of a BDPO office is among two booked for alleged fraud related to the issuance of a fake NOC for a residential colony. The accused have been identified by Ludhiana rural police as Jagtar Singh, patwari at Jagraon BDPO office, and Rachpal Singh Gabria.The complaint against them was lodged by Mandeep Jindal and Indrajit Singh, residents of Govind Nagar in New Shimlapuri here. ASI Balwinder Singh said in their complaint, they told police that a residential colony was built on 35 acres of land in Jagraon’s Agwad Gujjar. To get that approved, they applied for a licence from Glada. Letters regarding the issuance of NOC were issued by Glada to various departments.The complainants told police that after obtaining NOCs from 13 departments, they submitted the same to the office of Glada. They said they contacted their acquaintance, Mandeep Singh, to get one of the NOCs from the BDPO office in Jagraon, as he works as a patwari in the BDPO office, Ludhiana.The complainants said they were asked to submit the relevant documents to Patwari Jagtar Singh, posted at the BDPO office in Jagraon. They complied and provided the documents to Patwari Jagtar Singh on his request. Subsequently, the NoC issued by the BDPO of panchayat samiti, Jagraon, regarding their colony was sent to them by Jagtar Singh through their acquaintance.The ASI said the complainant told the police that they submitted the entire file to the Glada office, following which they Glada issued a project licence. They also submitted the fees, bank guarantee, and other documents sought by Glada. However, BDPO Jagraon later called Indrajit Singh to his office, placed the copy of the NoC in front of him, and claimed that the signature on the NoC was not his.According to the complainant, the BDPO asserted that the NOC was fake and returned the file submitted by Jagtar Singh Patwari on their behalf. A letter was also sent to the office of Glada to inform them about the matter. The complainants said when they spoke to Jagtar Singh, he told them that Rachpal Singh Gabaria, an RTI activist, was filing complaints against them and had sent the copy of the NOC to the BDPO office.The complainant alleged that the accused told them they had to pay a significant amount of money to Rachpal Singh Gabaria, else he would continue to blackmail them by submitting false applications against them. They subsequently lodged a police complaint regarding the matter. TNN