IPS officer sentenced for 3 yrs for taking bribe

A CBI court here on Friday sentenced an IPS officer to a three-year jail term for taking a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from his subordinate, an SHO six years ago.

Additional District and Dessions judge Gagangeet Kaur had held Deshraj Singh, former Chandigarh Superintendent of Police (SP), guilty under Sections 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) and 13 read with 13(1)(d) (criminal misconduct by a public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act on August 8.

Pronouncing the quantum of sentence, the court sent Deshraj, a 2008-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, to three years imprisonment and also slapped a fine of Rs one lakh on him.

Posted as SP (City) in Chandigarh with the additional charge of SP (headquarters), Deshraj was detained by the CBI from his Sector-23 residence on October 18, 2012, while allegedly accepting Rs 1 lakh as bribe from a junior officer for getting him a clean chit in two departmental enquiries.

Later, Deshraj was suspended.

The CBI had laid the trap to nab SP Deshraj following a complaint by Chandigarh Police inspector Anokh Singh, the then SHO of Sector 26.

The SHO had said in his complaint to the CBI that SP Deshraj was a crucial witness in one of the departmental enquiries initiated against him.

The inquiries against Anokh Singh were initiated for alleged disobedience and insubordination as he had failed to inform Deshraj about a theft at an MLA’s residence.