Former minister booked in land purchase case

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has registered a criminal and corruption case against former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and four others. VB has arrested three accused Rajiv Kumar, resident of New Shakti Nagar, Bathinda; Amandeep Singh, resident of Lal Singh Basti, Bathinda; and Vikas Arora, resident of Tagore Nagar, Bathinda. The vigilance team conducted a raid at Manpreet’s house at Badal village. It was learnt that he was not home. A spokesperson of the VB said the case was registered on a complaint of Saroop Chand Singla, former MLA of Bathinda city, against Manpreet and others. He said during the probe it was found that Manpreet during his tenure as finance minister from 2018 to 2021 used his political pressure and influenced to purchase two plots measuring 1,560 square yards of land in Model Town phase-1 Bathinda near TV tower thereby caused a financial loss of millions to the state exchequer.