The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has registered an FIR against Moga Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Charumita over alleged irregularities in approving a compensation award worth ₹3.7 crore for land acquired along the Dharmkot–Shahkot section of National Highway-703.
The action comes after a departmental inquiry flagged serious lapses and possible financial misconduct in the approval process. Vigilance officials confirmed that the FIR has been filed under Sections 13(1)(a) and 13(7) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
SP Vigilance Manjit Singh said the case was based on a joint investigation conducted by the Revenue and Public Works (PWD) departments. The inquiry reportedly found that the compensation was sanctioned without verifying essential historical records related to the land.
The controversy began last year when an internal review revealed that the land under question had actually been acquired decades earlier. According to officials, the area was originally taken over in 1963 by PWD (B&R), Ferozepur, for a road construction project. However, during the NH-703 widening proposal in 2014, the same land was marked as newly acquired, eventually leading to the ₹3.7 crore payout in 2019.
At the time of approval, revenue records from 1963 were reportedly “missing,” raising suspicion about why the documents could not be traced for years. The disappearance of the files led to a separate FIR earlier this month after the Deputy Commissioner of Ferozepur filed a complaint regarding the missing records.
In a surprising twist, the lost documents resurfaced on November 13, after officials carried out an extensive search in district record rooms. The recovery has shifted the course of the investigation, with senior officials now suggesting that multiple individuals may have received compensation twice — once at the time of initial acquisition and again decades later.
Sources say the rediscovery of the original files has triggered a wider probe into what is now being described as a possible “double-compensation nexus.” The case may involve more officials and private beneficiaries who allegedly profited from the reclassification of the already-acquired land.
Meanwhile, ADC Charumita had already been placed under suspension on November 6, following a chargesheet issued by the PWD in September and a formal request for a Vigilance probe.
Officials familiar with the investigation say more names are likely to surface as scrutiny deepens. The Vigilance Bureau is now examining how the missing records went unnoticed for so long, who approved the compensation, and whether there was collusion between government officials and landowners.
Further investigation is underway.