VB nabs 2 officials for taking bribe

The Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested district manager, Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation (PSCFC), Tarn Taran, red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 10,000. In another incident, the VB nabbed Rashpal Singh, mandi supervisor, posted at Kahnuwan Market Committee in Gurdaspur district for accepting a bribe of Rs 7,000.

Sharing details, Lakhbir Singh, SSP, Vigilance, said Chiman Lal was arrested following a complaint lodged by a resident of Gidhri Baghihari village in Tarn Taran. The complainant approached the VB, while stating that his physically challenged sister had availed a loan of Rs 1,00,000 from the corporation in 2009. Afterwards, the government announced a waiver of such loans under a relevant scheme. He said the district manager demanded a bribe Rs 10,000 from his sister to process and settle the loan waived off by the government. He said following preliminary probe, a vigilance team laid a trap and arrested the accused while he was accepting bribe from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.

Meanwhile, mandi supervisor Rashpal Singh was held after a commission agent at the Kahnuwan grain market lodged a complaint. The complainant told the VB that the Kahnuwan Market Committee had wrongly imposed a penalty of Rs 18,610 on his firm in December 2024. Despite repeated attempts to resolve the matter, committee officials refused to withdraw the penalty. As the wheat procurement season was approaching, the complainant needed to renew the expired licence of his another firm, registered in his mother’s name. The complainant alleged that he approached Rashpal Singh to settle both the issues, but he demanded bribe of Rs 8,000. After negotiations, the amount was reduced to Rs 7,000, he said.

After preliminary verification, the VB laid a trap during which Rashpal Singh was caught red-handed, while he was accepting a bribe from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses. Separate cases were registered against both the accused.

Amritsar