Patwari caught taking bribe

Hoshiarpur, May 15

The Vigilance Bureau caught a patwari accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 on Wednesday. Munish Kumar, DSP, Vigilance, Hoshiarpur, said Jaswinder Kaur, wife of Santokh Ram, had transferred six marlas at Tanuli village on December 22, 2023.

The accused patwari, identified as Ramesh Kumar, at Pandori Bibi allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 25,000 from her to enter the mutation.

The complainant only had Rs 15,000 on that day, which the patwari took from her and asked her to pay the remaining Rs 10,000 later.

Later, Asha Rani, sister-in-law of the complainant, Paramjit, a resident of Jagrawan district, Jalandhar, applied to get a survival certificate, the inquiry of which also came to the said patwari.

It was alleged that the patwari stopped the certificate application by Asha Rani and messaged the complainant from his mobile phone to pay Rs 15,000, and then ask Asha Rani to come to her office along with the numberdar.

When the complainant asked the patwari how the amount increased rose from Rs 10,000 to 15,000, the patwari reportedly replied that it would further become Rs 20,000 with interest after May 22.

The complainant spoke to patwari Ramesh Kumar on the phone on May 14, when he demanded a bribe of Rs 15,000, following which Jaswinder Kaur complained to the Vigilance Bureau.

Acting on the said complaint, under the supervision of Vigilance Bureau DSP Munish Kumar, Inspector Vijaypal Singh caught the patwari red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from the complainant.

The DSP said a case had been registered against the accused and he will be presented in the court on May 16.