Rs 3 lakh graft case: Patiala cops under VB lens
The arrest of an alleged middleman, who acted as a tout at the behest of some policemen and extorted money from villagers, has opened a Pandora’s Box of chaos for the local police after the Vigilance Bureau summoned two senior officials in the case. An initial probe reveals that two senior policemen are directly under the Vigilance Bureau’s scanner for their alleged affiliation with the accused.
A team of Punjab Vigilance Bureau in Patiala on Wednesday arrested Dharampal of Asmanpur village in Haryana’s Pehowa. He was allegedly arrested red-handed while accepting Rs 3 lakh bribe following a complainant lodged by a resident of the same village.
The role of two senior police officials — a Sub-Inspector and an Assistant Sub-Inspector — is under the Vigilance Bureau lens as it now wants to probe and identify the officials, who were in touch with the arrested middleman, harassed residents and struck deals for the local police.
Sources say the accused was in touch with many police officials, not only in Patran but also in nearby sub-divisions. “In case the involvement of other officials comes to the fore, we will probe them too. We have summoned a few senior police officials to join the investigation,” they said.
