Patiala, November 9
Following orders by the state government, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau today booked former Patiala Deputy Commissioner Vikag Garg and nine others in a case of fraudulent sale of government land situated on the Grand Post Office road in Patiala district.

A case (FIR no 23) has been registered under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of the IPC and 13 (I) (d) r/w 13(2) PC Act 1988 at Police Station Vigilance Bureau, Patiala, against former DC Vikas Garg, Rajbir Singh, ex-DRO, Patiala; Gurinder Singh Walia, Naib Tehsildar, Patiala, Pritpal Singh, Kanungo, and Suresh Kumar, Patwari. The FIR also names the alleged middlemen in the deal — NP Singh, Yashpal Aggarwal, Davinder Singh Sandhu, Ravdeep Singh and Jaswant Singh.

Sources said initial orders have given a clean chit to former Patiala Divisional Commissioner GS Grewal and then Patiala Tehsildar AS Thind following lack of evidence against them.

“However more evidence would be probed and anyone found involved would not be spared”, said a senior officer.

Another officer confirmed that AS Thind could be let off the hook as he has promised to turn approver and provide vital clues. Pritam Singh, Patiala SSP Vigilance, has been appointed investigating officer. The FIR comes following upholding of the charge sheet which held Vikas Garg and others guilty of the sale of government land said to be worth whopping Rs 250 crore approx. The basic premise was that the government land had been registered in private hands. Garg was suspended along with five other officials of Patiala Revenue Department. The disputed land portion was sold in 2011.

Others, who were suspended, included District Revenue Officer Rajbir Singh, Tehsildar AS Thind, Naib Tehsildar GS Walia, Kanungo Pritpal Singh and Patwari Suresh Kumar. The former Deputy Commissioner was found to have approved registration of two sale deeds at the office of Joint Sub-Registrar, Patiala, on October 14, 2011. Later, a preliminary probe by the former Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar established that Patiala revenue officials were involved in the controversial sale. Another enquiry by the Financial Commissioner (Revenue) Navreet Kang confirmed the lapses which led to Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia recommending a vigilance probe into the case.