HP Vigilance Bureau registers another case against HPCA

The Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau today registered another case against Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) over "illegal felling of trees" for the construction of a players' residential complex near the Dharamsala stadium.
This is the bureau's third case against the cricket body, headed by Anurag Thakur, BJP MP and son of former Chief Minister P K Dhumal.
A large number of pine and other trees had been felled by HPCA during the construction of luxury hotel, The Pavilion, and the residential complex. A case under Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 120-B and 447 of the IPC have been registered by the bureau in Dharamsala, a bureau official said.

Earlier, the bureau had booked the HPCA on August 1 in a case of alleged cheating, misappropriation and irregularities in allotment of land, which according to revenue records was common village land, to the sports body for the construction of residential complex.
The disputed land, three km from the picturesque stadium and 250 km from the state capital, has been used by the HPCA to build a five-star residential complex called The Pavilion, which has 38 rooms, 32 huts and a high-tech gym. The HPCA website calls it the "exotic residential resort".
The land was allotted when the BJP was in power with Prem Kumar Dhumal as Chief Minister.

The HPCA has also been accused of encroaching upon a 3,000 sq m land of the state sports and youth services department near the stadium. A case in this regard was registered October 3.
Two (IAS) officers -- Deepak Sanan and R S Gupta -- have been charged by the state government on July 26 for allegedly allowing the change in the land-use for building the HPCA residential complex.