Revenue records of 14 villages in the Nangal subdivision of Ropar district have gone missing, causing long delays in land demarcation and mutation in hundreds of cases.Sources said the records disappeared during the tenure of the previous Congress government between 2018 and 2022. No one has been held accountable so far.The missing documents include the “latha”, the foundational revenue record used to establish land ownership and boundary demarcation. In the absence of these records, residents of the affected villages are unable to get land mutations approved or boundaries officially demarcated.The affected villages are: Sehjowal, Meghpur, Manakour, Ajouli, Nikku Nangal, Nangali, Kalsera, Bandlehri, Dukli, Jol, Sagatpur, Kulgran, Bhatton and Daroli.Local residents alleged the revenue “latha” was taken away by a politically influential person during the 2018-2022. Despite the seriousness of the lapse and the widespread inconvenience caused, no formal responsibility had been fixed, they said.Senior district officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the patwari responsible for maintaining custody of the records had since died. This, they said, has made it difficult to establish direct accountability. “Since the patwari concerned is no more, it has become difficult to fix responsibility for the missing record,” an official said.The issue has gained further importance amid allegations that the missing records may have been misused. Residents claimed the absence of authentic documents allegedly enabled some individuals to claim compensation for government land during the construction of the Nangal overbridge. They also fear similar misuse during future land acquisition for the proposed four-laning of the Nangal-Kiratpur highway.Residents have demanded a thorough investigation and urged the authorities concerned to lodge a police case to identify those responsible. “The missing record has caused harassment to a large number of genuine landowners. A police investigation is necessary to uncover the truth,” a local resident said.Officials noted that the history of these records dates back to 1966, following the reorganisation of states and the formation of Himachal Pradesh, when some revenue records were transferred and later returned to Punjab. However, officials clarified that the present disappearance relates specifically to 2018-2022.Nangal SDM Sachin Pathak confirmed that the records were missing and said efforts were bring made to reconstruct them. Two retired Survey of India officials have been engaged as resource persons. The reconstruction is being carried out using Differential Global Positioning System to accurately re-establish land boundaries.Welcoming the reconstruction effort, residents insist it does not absolve those responsible for the disappearance of the original records.