Graft: Panchkula cop suspended

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Panchkula, June 9

Deputy Commissioner of Police Surinder Pal Singh today suspended the incharge of the Sector 25 police post, Sub-Inspector Sukhwinder Singh, for taking Rs 30,000 as bribe from a city resident.

‘Slipshod’ probe

Eyebrows are being raised over the ‘slipshod’ investigation conducted by the police as Sub-Inspector Sukhwinder Singh could have been arrested red-handed had they followed the procedure adopted by the Vigilance Department in bribery cases. The complainant was not sent with powdered notes and when Rs 30,000 was recovered, the Sub-Inspector was not arrested.

The police said SI Sukhwinder Singh was demanding a bribe of Rs 1 lakh on the pretext of settling a case following which the complainant, Sohan Sharma, approached Police Commissioner Hanif Qureshi. The Police Commissioner handed over the investigation of the case to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rajkumar Kaushik.

The complainant was then asked to deal secretly with the SI. Later, the bribe amount was settled at Rs 30,000. As soon as the complainant handed over the money to Sukhwinder Singh, the ACP raided the post and recovered the amount from the room of the police post incharge.

Qureshi said the complainant had stated that Sukhwinder was threatening him in a complaint related to a money deal and was demanding Rs 1 lakh to settle the case. When Sohan Sharma said the amount was too high, Sukhwinder told him that they had also to pass on the money to the higher authorities.

Qureshi said on ACP Rajkumar Kaushik’s report, the SI was suspended and a departmental inquiry was ordered against him.