Patwari caught taking Rs 25K bribe

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, on Friday, apprehended a patwari, Anil Narula, posted at the revenue halka, Jassian village, in Ludhiana, for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000.

An official spokesperson for the state VB said here this evening that the patwari had been arrested on a complaint lodged by Major Singh, a resident of New Amar Nagar, here.

He said the complainant had approached the bureau and had alleged in his complaint that the suspect had demanded Rs 25,000 for providing a 25-year revenue record for mutation of his ancestral land.

“After a preliminary inquiry of the complaint, a VB team from the economic offences wing (EOW), Ludhiana unit, laid a trap and the suspect was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe of Rs 25,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses,” he said.

The spokesperson said a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act had been registered against the patwari at the EOW police station of the Vigilance Bureau in Ludhiana. He would be produced before a competent court tomorrow and further investigation in the case was under progress, he said.