Punjab woman, son booked for allegedly selling wartime airstrip using forged papers

FEROZEPUR (Punjab): In a startling case of land fraud reported from Punjab’s Ferozepur by a whistleblower, a woman and her son allegedly sold off a World War II-era airstrip used by the Indian Air Force, in 1997.

The case pertains to the fraudulent sale of the land of the historic Advance Landing Ground (ALG) of the IAF in Fattu Wala village here. The airstrip, used during the 1962, 1965, and 1971 wars, was allegedly sold by Usha Ansal and her son Naveen Chand Ansal of Dumani Wala village, currently residing in the national capital Delhi.

The mother-son duo has been booked for fraudulently selling Indian Air Force land in Punjab’s Fattu Wala village using forged documents, police said. The land, which had been historically used during major wars, was sold in 1997.

A complaint was filed by the complainant Nishan Singh, who is a retired kanungo, years ago, but no action was taken. In 2021, the officials at Halwara Air Force Station in Punjab sought an inquiry from the Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepur, but still no solution was found. Following this, Nishan Singh filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

A case was finally registered against them at the Kulgarhi Police Station. Senior Superintendent of Police Bhupinder Singh said, “This action has been taken on the basis of the complaint of retired Kanungo Nishan Singh that was investigated by Inspector Jagandeep Kaur (Vigilance Bureau).”

The investigation revealed that the accused, in connivance with some low-level officials of the Revenue Department, sold the IAF land to private individuals in 1997 using forged documents.

His lawyer said that the original owner of the land, Madan Mohan Lal, had died in 1991. The sale deal was finalised in 1997, in which the names of Mukhtiar Singh, Jagir Singh, Surjit Kaur, Manjit Kaur, Dara Singh, Ramesh Kant and Rakesh Kant were included. The most important thing was that the land was never transferred to them.

Following a court direction, the Deputy Commissioner had submitted a three-page report stating that the land was still in the possession of the IAF as per the revenue records of 1958-59. However, Nishan Singh was not satisfied with this report and filed another petition alleging that several important facts were deliberately hidden and the land was transferred to private individuals with the connivance of some officials.

Following an investigation by the district administration in May 2025, the portion of land that was allegedly transferred to private individuals was handed back to the Ministry of Defence. “It was found that the real owner had left for Delhi before 1947. The officers here prepared fake records and sold this land in 1997. Our revenue officers kept covering up this matter and kept taking huge bribes”, said Nishan Singh.

He said the truth came to the fore when the High Court intervened and entrusted the probe to the Vigilance Director. The report filed on June 20 led to the registration of the case. It was found that the land belonged to the IAF and had been purchased by the British administration in 1945 for the Second World War. (ANI)