CBI arrests Punjab Police officer for allegedly seeking Rs 8 lakh bribe

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday said that it arrested a Punjab deputy inspector general of police for allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs 8 lakh in Chandigarh.

The arrested officer is Harcharan Singh Bhullar, who was posted in the Ropar Range, reported The Tribune. The action came on a complaint by a scrap dealer, Naresh Batta, in Mandi Gobindgarh in the state’s Fatehgarh Sahib district.

“The officer was allegedly seeking recurring monthly illegal payments from the complainant,” stated the CBI.

Along with Bhullar, the investigating agency also arrested one of his associates, “on allegations that the officer demanded a bribe of Rs 8 lakh and monthly illegal gratification through his middleman for ‘settling’ an FIR registered against the complainant”.

The CBI stated that a call was made to Bhullar as part of the trap laid out to arrest him, “during which he acknowledged the payment and directed the middleman and complainant to come to his office”.

“Subsequently, the CBI team apprehended the public servant from his office and arrested both the accused in Chandigarh,” it added.

During searches at several premises linked to Bhullar, the agency said it recovered Rs 5 crore in cash, jewellery weighing about 1.5 kg, documents pertaining to immovable properties and assets in Punjab, keys of two luxury vehicles,...

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