Court directs Punjab DGP to book Mohali cop in graft case

Mohali, April 6

A local court has directed the Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, to register a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Inspector Amanjot Kaur of Mohali for allegedly seeking Rs 25 lakh as bribe in a cheating case as the complainant had failed to get justice despite filing of complaint with the Vigilance Bureau (VB) and on the Chief Minister’s helpline.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge also noted that respondent number 2 is a police officer and her custodial interrogation will be very much required to collect all the incriminating evidence.

In her petition, advocate Palak Dev sought directions from the court to register a corruption case against Inspector Amanjot Kaur, Cyber Cell, Mohali, Phase 4, for allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs 25 lakh in a cheating case registered at the Sohana police station on January 10.

The inspector had arrested Vijay Raj Kapuria and four others, who were running an IT solution company, after getting a secret information at 2.50 am, lodged an FIR at 3.55 am and conducted a raid without following guidelines of the Supreme Court.

During the police remand on January 11, the inspector allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh from Kapuria for not torturing him during the remand and getting him bail. When he refused, the suspects were allegedly beaten up with sticks on their foot soles and extension of their remand by two days was sought. On January 12, Kapuria negotiated with the cop to take Rs 25 lakh and informed his wife Sunita and applicant Palak Dev, who is his family friend and lawyer, to arrange the money.

The matter was reported to the Vigilance Bureau, which assured Sunita Kumari of laying a trap. Besides, a complaint was filed on the Anti-Corruption helpline of Punjab on January 14.

“The respondent number 2 (inspector) is running an extortion racket and trying to cover up her wrongdoings by involving the applicant, so that the applicant does not pursue the present complaint. Respondent number 1 (Director General of Police, Punjab) and Vigilance officials were informed on January 15, but to no avail,” the court noted in its April 3 order.

A status report from the Vigilance Department was called, but the AIG, Vigilance Bureau, observed that the allegations were not found to be proved.

“Sunita Kumari and the applicant had approached the VB, which had planned to lay a trap to apprehend the respondent number 2 with bribe money. However, it appears that either the information was leaked to the respondent number 2 or the trap did not mature due to some other reasons. Even the AIG has not mentioned these facts in his report… Rather for the last two dates, no one appeared for the applicant, which shows that the respondent number 2 might be exerting pressure on the applicant to not pursue the present application,” the court order read further.

“There are serious allegations against the respondent number 2 (Inspector Amanjot Kaur) for which thorough an investigation is required to be conducted. Hence, the present complaint/petition is referred to the Director General of Police, Punjab, (respondent number 1) to register the FIR against the respondent number 2 and get it investigated by a senior officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police. The complaint be treated as First Information Report.”