Ambala vigilance team arrests Kaithal SDM over corruption allegations

Kaithal, January 18

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A vigilance team from Ambala arrested Kaithal’s sub-divisional magistrate on Wednesday over allegations of corruption in a previous posting, official sources said.

Kaithal’s SDM Amrinder Singh had previously held the additional charge of Ambala’s District Transport Officer.

Kaithal authorities said they were not authorised to speak about the development given that the arrest concerned another district, but some sources said Singh, a 2019 batch Haryana Civil Services officer, was arrested after a transporter accused him of corruption in Ambala.

Sources say the case pertains to September 21, 2021, when Ambala’s DTO Gauri Midha was on leave, and Amrinder Singh, then the DTO of Panchkula, asked to take over her duties temporarily.

The alleged corruption came to light after a transporter, Cheeka Devraj, filed a complaint with the vigilance department, sources said. The vigilance team then arrested an inspector, who in turn accused Singh and another transport inspector at Ambala’s Regional Transport Authority office of taking Rs 6.5 lakh a month from transporters for not stopping overloaded vehicles, sources said.

Kaithal Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Dahiya confirmed the arrest.

 The vigilance department is primarily mandated to investigate and eliminate systemic corruption.