Salman Khurshid row: No camp held in Bulandshahr?

Bulandshahr: Another controversy that has hit the Congress is the alleged irregularities in the Zakir Hussain Trust associated with Law Minister Salman Khurshid and his family. After India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal's details on bogus beneficiaries, CNN-IBN travelled to Bulandshahr and found more jarring stories.

Seventeen-year-old Preeti can't walk since her leg is paralysed. Her name is No. 24 on the test check report, as having got crutches at a camp held by Salman Khurshid's Zakir Hussain Trust on April 2, 2010. But the resident of Barhana, Bulandshahr, never went to any camp, she said.

Her uncle said, "We haven't got anything. No one even came to ask us. We did not get any aid nor did we make a demand for it and there was no camp held here."

After Arvind Kejriwal\'s details on bogus beneficiaries, CNN-IBN travelled to Bulandshahr and found more jarring stories.

Munni, who lives close to Preeti, is No. 40 in the list of beneficiaries. While she is 60, her age on the list is shown as 45. Munni, who is hard of hearing showed the hearing aid she got at a camp. CNN-IBN also met the Pradhan of the village to cross-check the backgrounds of Munni and Preeti. The two are among four persons who were allegedly physically verified by the Block Development officer when complaints of discrepancies surfaced. The question, therefore is whether the BDO submitted an incorrect report.

Forty-year-old Banke, a teacher at a private school in Bibinagar, manages with a paralysed hand. While he does get a pension for the disabled, he says he never applied for a wheelchair, since his legs are fine. Yet he is Number 10 on a list that says he got one. "I have not made any demand for a wheelchair. I saw it in the newspapers that someone made a requirement for a wheelchair on my name and he shall not be forgiven," Banke said.

It was in Bahanpur in Bulandshahr where locals say a camp was organised by the Zakir Hussain Trust in April 2010. But with the District handicapped welfare officer confirming that his predecessor didn't sign the verification list, it clearly means that the truth of those who actually benefitted lies somewhere in between.

But there are those who say the camp took place as well, like Bijender Singh from Bahanpur village. "It was organised and cycles were distributed. We had organised food as well," he said.

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