Vigilance Bureau nabs Ludhiana Improvement Trust junior assistant, EO, clerk for taking bribe

LUDHIANA: The vigilance bureau (EOW) Ludhiana team caught a junior assistant and an executive officer of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) red-handed while taking a bribe.
The action was taken on the complaint of Satnam Singh, who alleged that Harmit Singh, junior assistant, LIT, was demanding Rs 20,000 bribe from him for processing and finalising his application for one- time settlement of default payment of a booth allotted to him by the trust in Rajguru Nagar.
The complainant also alleged that Harmit assured him that he would manage everyone up to EO level and ensure that his work was done.
Three VB teams were deputed and a trap was laid. Junior assistant Harmit Singh was caught red-handed with bribe money of Rs 10,000. EO, LIT Kamaljit Kaur was also present and she was also arrested along with Harmit. The vigilance bureau also arrested a clerk, Parveen Kumar, who had managed to flee from the office while the raid was going on. SSP, Vigilance Surendra Lamba said, “The clerk, Parveen Kumar was later arrested from near Court complex. His name was also included in the complaint.”
Notably, Harmit Singh who had demanded bribe from Satnam Singh, was deputed in the law branch while Parveen Kumar was handling charge of Rajguru Nagar scheme. In the audio given to vigilance bureau, junior assistant Harmit Singh was heard saying that he would give a share to EO Kuljit Kaur and clerk Parveen Kumar.
SSP, Vigilance Surender Lamba said further investigation is on. Requesting anonymity, an official claimed that he was out of office for some work when he got the news. He said when he came back to check, questioning was going on in the office of the junior assistant and then they were taken away.
The sudden move of the Vigilance Bureau led to misgivings in other public dealing offices, including the Municipal Corporation, where speculations were rife that the next raid could be in the civic body office.