DIG Bhullar's arrest opens pandora’s box in Punjab Police; SHO booked, middleman held in Rs 30 lakh bribery case

After a DIG and later an AIG rank police officers were arrested for corrupt practices, another cop landed in a soup here on Friday when the Punjab Vigilance Bureau booked Chehharta police station SHO Vinod Sharma in an alleged corruption case.

The vigilance bureau has also arrested a middleman, Lalit Arora, for allegedly demanding a Rs 30 lakh bribe while threatening to implicate a local trader in a narcotics case. Sources in the Vigilance said a team arrested Lalit Arora red-handed and recovered Rs 5 lakh in cash from his possession, while SHO Vinod Sharma managed to escape.

SSP Vigilance Lakhbir Singh said that the bureau had solid evidence, including audio recordings, to establish the bribery demand.

Following the operation, the Vigilance team conducted a four-hour-long search at the Chehharta police station and questioned several staff members, it is learned. As per information, the case pertains to the recent seizure of around 5 kg of opium. Chehharta police had arrested Naresh alias Shanky, a resident of Jalandhar, and a man from Chhattisgarh with 5kg of opium.

Naresh also owned a house in Chehharta, where his relative Vikram Kumar lived on the ground floor. The opium was allegedly recovered from Naresh’s portion of the house. It is alleged that the police later began pressuring Vikram, threatening to book him in the same case unless he paid a Rs 30-lakh bribe.

Vikram, a scrap dealer, could not arrange the amount and he later approached the vigilance bureau for justice. Acting on his complaint, the bureau laid a trap and raided Lalit’s mobile showroom in Liberty Market, where the middleman was caught accepting Rs 5 lakh as part of the bribe.