CBI conducts second round of searches at suspended Punjab DIG's residence

The CBI on Thursday carried out a second round of searches at the residence of suspended Punjab Deputy Inspector General of Police (Ropar Range) Harcharan Singh Bhullar, who was arrested on bribery charges last week, officials said.

The fresh operation at Bhullar’s Sector 40 residence came amid reports that he was not cooperating with the agency, they said.

During the raid, the CBI searched for the CCTV camera footage, besides assessing the value of the premises, they said.

Bhullar was arrested on October 16 for allegedly accepting Rs 8 lakh in a bribe from a scrap dealer as “sewa pani”. Subsequent searches resulted in the seizure of cash worth Rs 7.5 crore, besides gold jewellery weighing 2.5 kg.

In addition, 26 luxury watches, including those from Rolex and Rado brands, documents pertaining to more than 50 immovable properties held in the names of family members and suspected benami entities, locker keys and details of multiple bank accounts and four firearms, along with 100 live cartridges, were also seized during the search operation.

Since his arrest, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also operated several of his bank lockers, they said.

Bhullar was arrested from his Mohali office following a complaint lodged by the scrap dealer, a resident of Mandi Gobindgarh in the Fatehgarh Sahib district. He accused the senior police officer of demanding a recurring monthly payment for “settling” a 2023 FIR against him.

A middleman identified as Kirshanu was also arrested, and Rs 21 lakh was seized from him.

According to an FIR lodged by the CBI, complainant Akash Batta alleged that Bhullar demanded illegal gratification through his middleman for settling the 2023 case registered against him in Sirhind and ensuring that no further coercive or adverse police action would be taken against his business.

The complainant further alleged that Bhullar had been demanding recurring monthly payments, referred to as “sewa paani”, and had threatened to falsely implicate him in business-related criminal cases in case of non-compliance.

The complainant, in his statement, claimed that he had been booked on false allegations that he was using fake bills.

Bhullar was appointed the DIG (Ropar Range) in November 2024. The Ropar Range comprises Mohali, Rupnagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. He was suspended by the Punjab Government after his arrest.

The officer is the son of former Punjab Director General of Police MS Bhullar.