Chandigarh, April 1 -- The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has booked 16 officials - from divisional deputy director to block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) - for allegedly causing losses to the exchequer by failing to auction 350 acres of panchayat land in Hariau village, located in Patran block of Patiala, around a decade ago. Two of them - Vinod Kumar Gagat, deputy director of rural development, and Muktsar ADC (development) Surinder Singh Dhillon - have been arrested.

Vigilance SSP Rajpal Singh said Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act have been slapped against the accused. Both the arrested persons were produced in a co...