Haryana IAS officer sent to 1-day remand in bribery case

Advertisement

Chandigarh, October 12

A Panchkula court today sent IAS officer Jaibir Singh Arya, Managing Director (MD) of the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC), to one-day remand in a case of alleged criminal conspiracy, extortion and accepting a bribe of Rs 3 lakh for a posting.

The state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had arrested Arya yesterday and produced him before the court today. It demanded a two-day police remand as he had to be taken to Dehradun for the recovery of bribe money received in earlier cases, and for carrying out raids to arrest his accomplice Rajesh Bansal, employed with CONFED.

Counsel for Arya, SPS Parmar, opposed the remand and submitted that the ACB had violated the apex court’s judgment in Arnesh Kumar’s case during the arrest.

Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Kurukshetra, had complained to the ACB that a bribe was being demanded for the posting of his wife Rinku, working as Assistant Manager, Quality Control, HSWC. She was on childcare leave from April 4 to September 30. She had further applied for leave for 18 months, but Arya had reportedly declined her request. She was intimated that she would be transferred to Rewari, or a far-off place.

District Manager, HSWC, Panipat, Sandeep Ganghas — Rinku’s batchmate — allegedly told Rajesh Kumar that she could get a posting as District Manager in Kurukshetra after paying a bribe to Arya. He claimed that he knew Arya well.

Ganghas later told them that Arya had asked for Rs 5 lakh, but he had settled the deal at Rs 3 lakh. The bribe would be routed through Rajesh Bansal, who was posted as GM in CONFED, Panchkula. He claimed that Arya was also posted in CONFED earlier and alleged that Bansal took care of his dealings.

As per the deal, Rinku got posted as District Manager, Kurukshetra, on October 5 and she joined duty the next day. Ganghas then told Rajesh Kumar to pay Rs 3 lakh to Manish Sharma of shop no. 82, Industrial Area (Phase 2), Panchkula. Rajesh Bansal was to collect the bribe from Sharma and give it to Arya, the ACB stated before the court.

Rajesh Kumar was allegedly threatened that if the bribe was not paid, Rinku could be transferred to a distant place. The complainant said he had audio recordings to substantiate his claim.

The ACB conducted a raid yesterday and caught Manish Sharma red-handed. The bribe of Rs 3 lakh was also recovered. Ganghas was called and his statement recorded. Thereafter, Arya was called and arrested. The Investigating Officer seized his mobile phone and took screenshots of the conversation between Arya, Ganghas and Sharma.