Recovery agent held for taking bribe to settle loan default case

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested Jatinder Pal Piplani, a recovery agent attached with the Punjab Gramin Bank, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000.

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A spokesperson for the Vigilance Bureau said that the arrest has been made following a complaint lodged by a Chheharta resident.

He further added that the complainant approached the Vigilance Bureau while stating that the Punjab Gramin Bank had declared his property a non-performing asset (NPA) due to default in payment of house loan and the recovery file was assigned to the accused agent for recovery of the pending loan amount.

He alleged that the accused had threatened the complainant of forcefully taking possession of his house with the help of police and demanded a bribe of Rs 200,000 on behalf of the bank manager for settling the case in his favour.

The complainant added that the said agent had already taken Rs 50,000 as first installment and now put pressure on him to pay the remaining amount of Rs 1,50,000 for the bank manager.

The VB spokesperson further informed that after a preliminary verification of the complaint, the VB team laid a trap during which the accused recovery agent was arrested red-handed while he was accepting Rs 50,000 as second installment of bribe from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.

A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused at the VB police station, Amritsar Range.