Remand of Sanjay Popli's PA extended

Mohali, August 26

The personal assistant (PA) to tainted IAS officer Sanjay Popli, Harsh Adhikari, was further remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a local court yesterday.

Defence counsel Rajesh Gupta pleaded that Adhikari was falsely implicated in the case and no incriminating evidence or recovery was made from his client.

Adhikari was presented before CJM Harpreet Kaur after the expiry of his two-day Vigilance Bureau custody, which was granted on August 24 following his arrest in the case under Sections 7 and 7(A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, on August 23.

Punjab cadre IAS officer Popli, who was arrested on June 20 on the charges of seeking 1 per cent commission of Rs 7 lakh for clearing the tenders for laying a sewerage pipeline at Nawanshahr, is behind the bars. A 20-page chargesheet with 55 witnesses was filed before the court on August 19. A huge cache of ammunition was recovered from Popli’s house during search following his arrest by the Vigilance Bureau.