Seed certification official nabbed for taking Rs 50K bribe

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) nabbed seed certification officer Amritpal Singh, posted at the Punjab State Seed Certification Authority, Ludhiana, red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000.

Disclosing this here on Monday, an official spokesperson for the state VB said the suspect was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by a resident of Ward 10 in Mansa district.

He said the complainant was a seed producer, who runs Punjab Agri Seed Farm in Mansa. The work of his firm was to obtain breeder seeds (first-type sowing seeds) from agricultural universities in Punjab or outside the state and make seeds from purchased crops. His firm had sown wheat seeds in about 510 hectares (1,275 acres) of land through various universities and foundation seed sources. The responsibility of inspecting these crop lies with seed certification officer Amritpal Singh.

In this regard, the suspect came to their farm about 10 days ago for the inspection of sown crop and asked to show sown fields. The complainant alleged that the suspect demanded a bribe Rs 200 per hectare in lieu of making inspection report favourable for sowing crops. The complainant had recorded the entire conversation of demanding bribe.

Unwilling to pay any illegal gratification, the complainant approached the Vigilance Bureau, Bathinda Range. After a preliminary inquiry on his complaint, the VB team laid a trap during which the official was arrested red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.

A case has been filed against the suspect and further probe in the matter was on.