Jang-e-Azadi memorial probe: Punjab VB books Ajit Group editor Barjinder Singh Hamdard

Others among those booked are IAS officer Viney Bublani and owners of Deepak Builder that constructed the building

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday booked Barjinder Singh Hamdard, the editor-in-chief of Ajit Group, and 26 others for the alleged misuse of funds during execution of the ₹315-crore Jang-e-Azadi Memorial at Kartarpur in Jalandhar.

Spread over 25 acres at Kartarpur, the mega project was initiated by the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government. (HT)

Others among those booked are IAS officer Viney Bublani and owners of Deepak Builder that constructed the building. The VB detailed investigation has found irregularities worth ₹29 crore in execution of the memorial’s construction.

Spread over 25 acres at Kartarpur, the mega project was initiated by the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government.

The accused, many of whom have been arrested, have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Hamdard has been served a seven-day notice before his arrest, as allowed by the Punjab and Haryana high court.

Hamdard had remained instrumental in the conception and construction of the project since 2012, but quit as member secretary of the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial Foundation and as its managing committee president in April 2023 after the VB kicked off the investigation into the whole matter.