Kirshanu Sharda, arrested red-handed while accepting Rs 8 lakh bribe for Punjab DIG Bhullar, played hockey for Chandigarh

Kirshanu Sharda, arrested along with Punjab DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar in a bribery case, represented the Chandigarh hockey team in senior nationals many times.

However, the 30-year-old's claim to fame is working unofficially with the teams of politicians, police officials and singers.

His social media posts are mostly about a flamboyant Congress leader from Patiala.

Sources said Kirshanu was allegedly a frequent visitor to Punjab Police headquarters in Chandigarh and attended many promotional campaigns by the Punjab Police.

"Many police officers know him and keep in touch with him," sources said.

He was recently seen at a musical programme by a Hoshiarpur-born singer, songwriter, actor and poet in Chandigarh.

The CBI arrested Kirshanu from Sector 21, Chandigarh, reportedly red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 8 lakh, purportedly on behalf of DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar.

DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar and Kirshanu Sharda were arrested by the CBI on Thursday in a Prevention of Corruption Act case.

They will be produced in a special CBI court in Chandigarh on Friday, CBI officials said.

CBI officials claimed to have recovered Rs 5 crore in cash and 1.5 kg of gold from his residence in Chandigarh’s Sector 40. The police officer was picked up from his Mohali office and arrested in Chandigarh on the complaint of a scrap dealer from Mandi Gobindgarh, Naresh Batta.

The complainant alleged that Bhullar demanded a bribe of Rs 8 lakh through a middleman, Kirshanu—who was also arrested—to settle a 2023 FIR lodged at the Sirhind police station and to ensure no further coercive action was taken against him.

Apart from cash and gold, the CBI claimed to have seized the keys to BMW and Audi cars, documents of properties in Punjab, including a farmhouse in Samrala, 22 luxury watches, 40 litres of imported liquor, a double-barrel gun, a pistol, a revolver, an airgun, and a large quantity of ammunition.