Patiala, April 5 -- Patiala Police have booked 12 individuals, including two former women panchayat members and a serving government employee from Aalampur village for allegedly using forged Scheduled Caste (SC) certificates to avail of various benefits including jobs.

The FIR was registered on March 30 under sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after the complainant moved Punjab and Haryana high court. As per FIR, the accused used forged documents to avail the benefits under various SC schemes.

The high court, last month, issued a notice to Patiala senior superintendent of police (SSP) over this issue. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 8. Also, the court had asked for a status repo...