Haryana ACB aims to recover Rs 13 lakh bribe money from IAS officer

Tribune News Service

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, May 1

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Haryana, today told a local court in Panchkula that it wanted to recover Rs 13 lakh from senior IAS officer Vijay Singh Dahiya, Commissioner and Secretary, Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Department, which he allegedly took as bribe for clearing files related to training providers.

Poonam Chopra, a Delhi resident, was arrested on April 20 and is in judicial custody. In reply to the anticipatory bail application of Dahiya, the ACB today told a local court in Panchkula that Sharma had alleged threat from the accused IAS officer in his statement, recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC on April 24. The ACB said Dahiya’s police custody was required to recover Rs 13 lakh and unfold the extortion case’s layers.

Through his advocates, Kanwar Pal Singh and Harsh K Sharma, Dahiya submitted before the court that although he was named in the FIR, he never had any occasion to meet or converse with the complainant Manchanda. He further submitted that he had “deep roots” in society and there was no likelihood of his absconding.

Earlier, on the complaint of Manchanda, who provides training in computer, air-conditioning technician and beauty parlour courses under the Haryana Skill Development Mission, Chopra was caught red-handed while receiving Rs 3 lakh.

“During the raid on April 20, Poonam Chopra made a WhatsApp call to Dahiya. He told her that you have got late. She replied that training provider Rinku Manchanda delayed in giving the stuff which was why she had got late for meeting him. Then, along with the raiding team, she reached Caffe Tonino, Sector 8, Chandigarh, to meet Dahiya. They spent an hour at the restaurant and also took refreshments,” the ACB told the court. The CCTV footage of the restaurant for April 20 has been seized.

Dahiya was picked up from the restaurant along with his driver and his official car. He was taken to the ACB office, where he was questioned for two-three hours. His mobile phone and smartwatch were seized at the restaurant. Dahiya allegedly admitted knowing, Chopra but didn’t accept the bribe demand, said the ACB.

Relations between Chopra and Dahiya are established through WhatsApp calls and chats where clearing of Manchanda’s files and quick payment, and no budget being received for the current financial year are discussed, said the ACB.

Dahiya had allegedly asked Sharma to quickly process files of Manchanda which had been pending for long. He approved six bills of Manchanda from April 6 to April 17, amounting to Rs 10.43 lakh, said the ACB.

The ACB alleged that Dahiya’s family members and known persons had approached a shadow witness in the case and he, being a senior IAS officer, could influence witnesses. The next date in the case is May 3 for arguments on Dahiya’s anticipatory bail.

Rs 5L sought for clearing bills

The reference of Rs 13 lakh came in a statement of Deepak Sharma, an employee of the Haryana Skill Development Mission. Sharma, Vijay Dahiya and Delhi resident Poonam Chopra are accused in corruption and extortion cases at ACB police station, Panchkula, for seeking Rs 5 lakh bribe for clearing bills of Rs 50 lakh of training provider Rinku Manchanda

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