Conduit arrested for accepting bribe amount of Rs 3 lakh.(Representational image)
Inspector Jaswinder Kaur, SHO of Mani Majra police station, was on Monday night booked and a man, Bhagwan Singh, arrested for accepting the bribe amount of Rs 3 lakh out of Rs 5 lakh for not lodging an FIR of cheating, forgery against a resident of Mani Majra, Gurdeep Singh.
Bhagwan Singh was arrested red-handed with the bribe amount of Rs 1 lakh by a team of CBI from Sangrur. An amount of Rs 2 lakh was paid on June 19.
Minutes after the arrest of Bhagwan Singh, the CBI personnel raided the room of SHO Jaswinder Kaur at Mani Majra police station, sealed it and took away the CCTV camera recorder of the SHO room. Sources said a team also visited the allotted house of Kaur in Sector 22 but found nothing there.
All the relevant records pertaining to the complaint of cheating of around Rs 28 lakh against Gurdeep Singh was also seized from the record room of Mani Majra police station. Inspector Jaswinder Kaur was summoned twice on Tuesday to join investigation at the CBI zonal headquarters, Sector 30, but she did not turn up.
Accused Bhagwan Singh was remanded in four-day CBI custody. Kaur was transferred to police lines, Sector 26. Inspector Neeraj Sarna was made new SHO of Mani Majra.
Inspector Kaur reached Mani Majra police station around 9 am and remained there for around three hours. A CBI officer said,”She was told over telephone to appear before the investigation agency at 12 noon and 2 pm but she did not come. Later, her phone was switched off.” A team was sent to her government quarter in Sector 22. Information was received about her another house at Zirakpur.
At Mani Majra police station on Monday night, the CBI also questioned one constable, Amarjeet Singh, who had written a compromise in Punjabi language between Gurdeep Singh and one Randhir Singh, who had filed a complaint of cheating against the former.
A senior CBI officer said, “There is direct evidence establishing the involvement of SHO of Mani Majra police station, Inspector Jaswinder Kaur, for demanding a bribe of Rs 5 lakh. Kaur was named as the main accused in the FIR registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with criminal conspiracy. We have recorded conversation between accused conduit Bhagwan Singh and complainant Gurdeep Singh. We have evidence showing conduit Bhagwan Singh and complainant Gurdeep Singh were in touch with Jaswinder Kaur over telephone and directly. We will again call Kaur to join the investigation tomorrow. Today she did not turn up for the probe.”
Sources said one Randhir Singh had filed a complaint against Gurdeep Singh for cheating of Rs 28 lakh with him on the pretext of providing a government job to his wife.
But the promise was not fulfilled. Later, Gurdeep declined to return the money. According to Gurdeep Singh, SHO Jaswinder Kaur was pressuring him to pay Rs 5 lakh in cash for not lodging an FIR against him. He alleged in his complaint that he was humiliated by Kaur before three persons, including Bhagwan Singh, and compelled him to pay the bribe.
Gurdeep Singh, sources said, was being compelled to pay Rs 23 lakh out of a total of Rs 28 lakh through cheque and Rs 5 lakh in cash.
Sources said Gurdeep Singh’s name had figured earlier too in a forgery case but his involvement was not established.
Inspector Kaur’s name had once figured in another corruption case being probed by the CBI in October 2017.
At that time, she was posted at SHO of Sector 31 police station. Sub-Inspector Mohan Singh posted under her was arrested for accepting Rs 2 lakh from one Prem Singh Bisht.
Though the CBI had forwarded a strongly worded letter to Chandigarh Police recommending that Kaur should never be deputed at any public dealing post, she was posted on the post of SHO.
The prosecution sanction against her on the part of Chandigarh Police is still pending.