Punjab: Vigilance Bureau nabs Patwari and his PA while accepting bribe of Rs 18k

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], June 27 : The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Tuesday nabbed a Patwari and his private assistant (PA) for accepting a bribe of Rs 18,000, said the officials.

According to the officials, the accused Patwari identified as Gurpreet Singh was posted at Revenue Halqa Bhullar in Sri Muktsar Sahib district and was arrested on the complaint of Gurpal Singh, a resident of village Bhullar.

Disclosing this here today, an official spokesperson of the VB said that the complainant Gurpal Singh had lodged a complaint with the VB unit, Sri Muktsar Sahib of VB Bathinda Range.

In the complaint, Patwari was accused of demanding a bribe of Rs 18,000 for transferring the ancestral land in the name of Gurpal Singh (the Complainant) and his brother after the death of their father, added the officials.

The accused revenue official asked him to hand over the said amount to his personal assistant Kuldeep Singh in order to get the job done, they said.

The spokesperson informed that after a preliminary investigation of this complaint, a VB team laid a trap and arrested both the accused persons on the spot while accepting a bribe of Rs 18,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.

In this regard, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused Patwari and his PA at Police Station VB, Bathinda Range, said the officials.

Further investigation into the matter is underway.

Earlier on June 10, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau said that it arrested another accused in the illegal compensation scam involving the planting of guava trees in the village Bakarpur of SAS Nagar (Mohali) district.

The accused was identified as Rohit Sharma who is an advocate.

"The arrested person has been identified as Advocate Rohit Sharma, who is a son of Shiv Kumar, PCS (Retd). Shiv Kumar got retired in February 2020 and has remained posted as LAC, GMADA from 2015-16," the official spokesperson said.

Vigilance Bureau further mentioned that the wife of the accused Rohit had obtained wrongful compensation of about Rs 80 lakh in lieu of Guava plants.

"The accused Rohit's wife Bharti has obtained wrongful compensation of about Rs 80 lacks in lieu of Guava plants on 4 Kanal lands at Village Bakarpur. They purchased this land in the year 2017," the spokesperson mentioned.

VB produced the accused before the duty magistrate, Mohali, and the court further sent him to four days of police custody.

According to the official statement, a total of 16 accused have been arrested by the Vigilance Bureau in the multi-crore scam.