Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 16

The Ministry of External Affairs has given the prosecution sanction against Rajiv Khetarpal, assistant superintendent at the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Sector 34, Chandigarh, who was arrested on a charge of graft.

The sanction was placed before the CBI court today during a hearing of the case. While taking the sanction on record, Jagjit Singh, Special Judge of CBI Court, directed the prosecution to include the name of Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Secretary (CPV & OIA), Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, in the list of witnesses i.e. sanctioning authority as prosecution witness.

The CBI arrested an assistant superintendent of the Regional Passport Office and a private person, Balwinder Singh, on a complaint of Jagdeep Singh in the case.

The complainant said he submitted an application through an online portal for the renewal of his passport and the accused demanded a bribe of Rs25,000 to Rs30,000, threatening him that his case would be delayed or even rejected if the money was not paid.

The CBI laid a trap and caught the private person red-handed while demanding and taking a bribe of Rs 30,000. According to the complaint, the arrested man said the bribe money was allegedly to be shared with the assistant superintendent and he also informed the officer on the phone regarding receipt of the bribe.

The assistant superintendent was also arrested later. The court adjourned the hearing for August 2 for arguments on charges.