With the Punjab Vigilance Bureau registering a criminal and corruption case against former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and four others for causing a loss of Rs 65 lakh to the state government, the chief minister, Bhagwant Mann, dared Badal to face the truth instead of seeking legal protection, on Monday.

Mann said that those who used to boast too much about honesty are now running pillar to post for saving their skin. He said these leaders earlier used to say that they will wait for whatever action is taken against them, but now afraid of punitive action these leaders are seeking legal protection from arrest.

The CM said the entire Punjab is aware of Badal’s misdeeds who had remained finance minister of state for a fairly long period and was hand in glove with the elements who ruined the state.

In this case, the 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 three have been arrested and are believed to be linked to the former minister, who has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Disclosing this on Monday, a spokesperson of the VB said a case was registered on a complaint filed by Saroop Chand Singla, who is a former MLA from Bathinda city, against Badal and others.

“During the probe it was found that Badal during his tenure as finance minister from the year 2018 to 2021 used political pressure and influence to purchase two plots measuring 1,560 square yards of land in Model Town Phase-1 near the TV tower in Bathinda. This caused a financial loss of lakhs of rupees to the state exchequer,” the spokesperson said.

He said the former minister, using his influence, colluded with the officials of Bathinda Development Authority and misled the public during the bidding of plots in 2021 and fake maps were uploaded to prevent participation of the general public in the bidding process for these plots.

The spokesperson said the plot numbers 725-C (560 square yards) and 726 (1,000 square yards) in the map were also shown as commercial instead of residential and the numbers of the plots were not shown in the map on the online e-auction portal.

This apart, the digital signatures of Balwinder Kaur, administrative officer, BDA were used for the auction of plots without her permission, he said.

During the probe, it was found the bids of the sole three bidders – Rajiv Kumar, Vikas Arora, and Amandeep Singh – were made by one person, an advocate named Sanjiv Kumar, from the same IP address and from the same place.

“Both the plots (725-C and 726) were purchased by the bidders in 2021 at a lower rate, which was fixed during an auction in the year 2018 causing a financial loss of about Rs 65 lakh to the government. The former finance minister had purchased both plots through agreements from the bidders known to him before they got allotment letters from BDA,” the spokesperson said, adding, “It was also found that Badal had transferred 25 per cent earnest money in advance to the successful allottees, which shows his in connivance with the bidders.”

He said the VB has been hunting for the arrest of other accused and involvement of other accused would also be probed during the further investigation.