VB arrests ex-panchayat member with Rs 1.4L bribe

Patiala, May 29

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) arrested a former panchayat member, Karnail Singh, a resident of Deogarh village in this district, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1,40,000 on behalf of two cops.

A spokesperson for the state VB said the suspect had been arrested on the basis of a complaint by Shera Singh, a resident of Deogarh. He said the complainant was informed that a FIR under the NDPS Act had been registered against him at the Ghagga police station. He said the Incharge of CIA Samana, Sub-Inspector Manprit Singh, and ASI Pargat Singh were demanding Rs 2 lakh as bribe to help him in the case, adding that they had asked him to hand over the money to Karnail Singh.

The spokesperson added that after a preliminary inquiry into the complaint, the VB team laid a trap and nabbed Karnail Singh when he was accepting the bribe from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.

A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered at the VB police station in Patiala range against the suspect, Karnail Singh. “The roles of SI Manprit Singh and ASI Pargat Singh would be probed during the further investigation and would be nominated accordingly in this case,” said VB officials.