Relief for Hamdard, PWD officials in corruption case

Coming as a big relief for former MP and Managing Editor of the Ajit Group of Publications Barjinder Singh Hamdard, IAS officer Vinay Bublani, Ludhiana-based builder Deepak Singal and 14 officials of the PWD, the Vigilance Bureau has initiated the process to prepare a cancellation report in connection with an FIR lodged against them in May last year.

The agency has given the submission in this regard in the High Court. The case pertains to the alleged misappropriation of funds in the construction of the Rs 315-crore Jang-e-Azadi Memorial Project at Kartarpur near here. The bureau had pointed to a financial loss of Rs 27.23 crore to the exchequer by making extra payments to the contractors. Hamdard had termed the action against him a part of political vendetta.

Hamdard was the president of the executive committee and Bublani was the chief executive officer for supervising the construction work. The project was initiated during the Akali regime, but it was completed during the tenure of former CM Capt Amarinder Singh.