Ex-officials from restive Chinese village expelled from Communist Party April 24, 2012 -- Updated 0610 GMT (1410 HKT) The authorities are investigating former officials in Wukan Local residents drove out village officials during protests last year They were angry about corruption and the seizure of farmland Two of the ex-officials have been expelled from the Communist Party Hong Kong (CNN) -- China's ruling Communist Party has expelled two former officials from a southern Chinese village where local residents rose up last year to protest corruption and abuses of land rights. Xue Chang, the former party chief of Wukan, and Chen Shunyi, the former head of the village committee, are facing charges of corruption and election-rigging, the state-run news agency Xinhua said in a report late Monday. The provincial authorities have also demanded that Xue and Chen return "illegal gains" worth tens of thousands of reminbi, Xinhua reported, citing Zeng Qingrong, deputy head of the supervision department of Guangdong Province. During the last four months of 2011, thousands of residents took to the streets of Wukan, protesting the seizure of their farmland by officials, expelling local Communist Party leaders and clashing with anti-riot police who surrounded the village. The unrest drew the attention of the international news media, making it a focal point for grassroots discontent in China. Senior provincial officials intervened to negotiate a deal with the villagers. That agreement allowed the residents to hold elections to choose local representatives earlier this year, and protest leaders were elected to key posts. The provincial authorities also began investigating the former village officials and the land seizures. After three months, the investigators found that former officials were "involved in illegal transfers of land use rights, embezzling collective properties, accepting bribes and rigging village elections," according to Zeng, the Guangdong official. As well as Xue and Chen, six other former village officials were also "punished," Xinhua reported. The investigation is continuing, the report said, adding that Xue and Chen "may also be handed over to the judicial authorities." Xinhua carried comments from local residents expressing support for the investigations into the corruption and land seizures.