Bains sting traps SDO accepting bribe

Ludhiana: Lok Insaf Party (LIP) chief Simarjit Singh Bains on Tuesday evening ‘caught’ an SDO of municipal corporation while he was allegedly accepting bribe from a Kakowal Road resident for installation of a submersible pump.
Fashion designer Satish Kumar, who approached the LIP chief with the complaint, said that about 10 to 12 days ago, SDO Sukhjeet Singh and his men came with a JCB and asked him whether his submersible pump had been passed or not. He added that when he told the officer it was not passed, the latter asked him to get it passed. Satish further said the SDO asked him to give Rs22,400, and he would pass it immediately. He added that the SDO later asked him whether his plot was numbered or not, to which he replied he had constructed his house only last year, so it was not numbered.
He added that the SDO’s man then told him to come to the SDO’s office in Saleem Tabri, and it would cost him another Rs2 lakh to get a legal connection. Later, the man then asked for Rs20,000, and finally settled at Rs15,000 for two households, but told him he would not get any receipt for that.
Satish further said: “He later took my number and called me, after which I told him my wife was not well. Later, he told me he would bring the JCB to cut the connection of the submersible pump, and I pleaded that my wife was not well, but I would come soon. Today, the SDO called me three to four times, but I didn’t attend to his calls, and contacted Simarjit Bains, who deputed a person, after which we went to the SDO’s office. The SDO said he does not take any money in his office, and asked the person with me to come near Jalandhar byepass where he accepted Rs12,000 from him. After he saw the vehicle of Bains Sahib coming, he threw the money and apologized to me and Bains Sahib.”
Simarjit Bains said he would send a complaint to the chief secretary into the matter, and would copy it to the principal secretary of the local government as well for action into the matter on Wednesday.