Patiala, October 26 - Punjab Vigilance Bureau Patiala Range arrested Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Surinder Dhillon of Sri Muktsar Sahib on charges of embezzlement of Rs 285 crore grant issued for compensation of land acquired for the Amritsar-Kolkata Corridor project in Patiala district. The Bureau team has arrested ADC Surinder Dhillon from Muktsar today. 
Let us tell you that in this case, Sarpanch-Pancha of some villages of Ghanaur Assembly constituency of Patiala, former Congress MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur, his son and some associates were also named and arrested. The accused was posted as DDPO in Patiala. A spokesperson of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau said that the FIR includes the name of Surinder Dhillon, who was then posted as District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO) in Patiala. This case is of 2022. The FIR has been registered against them under Sections 406, 420, 409, 465, 467 and 120-B of the IPC as well as Section 13(1)(a) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The charges specifically relate to embezzlement and failure to perform duty in relation to a grant of Rs 285 crore released for compensation for 1,103 acres of land acquired for the Amritsar-Kolkata Corridor project.
The Vigilance Bureau found in its probe that 30 per cent of the allocated funds were to be deposited in the salary account of the secretary of the BDPO office, which was not done properly. Besides, as per rules, 10 per cent of the remaining amount was meant for five villages of Shambhu block namely Akar, Sehra, Sehri, Takhtumajra and Pabra, whereas in reality the accused spent much more than that. Rs 65 crore was spent on development projects only on paper. Some of these projects existed only on paper and actual work was never completed.