Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrests former minister Sunder Sham Arora for offering bribe

Chandigarh October 16

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has arrested former state Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of the Bureau for influencing a case, officials said.

The Vigilance Bureau (VB) is learnt to have recovered the bribe money that he had allegedly offered to vigilance officials to let him off.

Arora was arrested early on Sunday morning at Zirakpur in Mohali district.

The role of Arora, who left the Congress to join the BJP after AAP came to power, is already being probed for his alleged role in “irregularities” in allotment of industrial plots of the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC), including the auction of industrial land, which was earlier allotted to the JCT.

Chief Director of, Vigilance Bureau Varinder Kumar, Punjab, on Sunday said that an FIR under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the former minister on the statement of Manmohan Kumar, AIG, Vigilance Bureau, Flying Squad.

In his complaint, AIG Kumar said that Arora met him last Friday and offered him Rs 1-crore bribe for getting favour in a vigilance case registered against him, Kumar said. The VB chief added that the former minister had offered to pay Rs 50 lakh next day (Oct 15) and the remaining amount later.