Mansa jail officer caught taking bribe

Gagandeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 17

The Vigilance Bureau (VB) today arrested Sikander Singh, welfare officer of the Mansa district jail, along with a murder convict, Pawan Kumar, while he was taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 from the brother of another prisoner. Both were nabbed from a spot about 2 km from the prison.

The VB also booked Gurjeet Singh Brar, deputy superintendent of the jail. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 120-B and 34 of the IPC was registered against the trio.

Addressing mediapersons, Vigilance SSP Jagjeet Singh Bhagtana and SP Bhupinder Singh Sidhu said, “We received a complaint from Ravinder Kumar, a resident of Shahbad Markanda (Haryana), two days ago. He claimed that his brother, Gourav Kumar, was serving a 12-year term under the NDPS Act in the Mansa jail. He said Gourav called him up from a mobile phone from inside the jail, asking him to arrange Rs 1.36 lakh, to be paid to jail officials.”

The SSP said Pawan Kumar, a resident of Mandi Kalan (Bathinda), was in charge of the jail canteen and Gourav was his assistant.

The kin of various prisoners had deposited money into Gourav’s bank account to avail facilities, even as jail officials were aware of the goings-on, he added. The deputy jail superintendent allegedly asked Gourav to hand over the money, but the latter refused, the SSP said. Later, Gourav was allegedly tortured in jail. He then called up his brother to arrange the amount.

Ravinder approached the VB, which laid a trap. Sikander and Pawan came out of the jail to meet Ravinder, who gave them Rs 50,000 in cash and a cheque for Rs 86,000. The VB team then arrested them.