Punjab AIG arrested by Vigilance Bureau in Rs 1-cr bribery case from 2016

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Thursday arrested an assistant inspector general of police and booked two other personnel in a Rs 1-crore bribery case from 2016, officials said.

The money allegedly exchanged hands when AIG Ashish Kapoor, currently posted as the commandant of the 4th Indian Reserve Battalion in Pathankot, was the superintendent of Amritsar Central Jail in 2016.

A spokesperson for the bureau said on Thursday the two policemen booked in the case are Deputy Superintendent of Police Pawan Kumar and Assistant Sub-inspector Harjinder Singh. They were posted at Zirakpur police station when the alleged bribery took place.

The bureau official said Kapoor, as the Amritsar Central Jail chief in 2016, got acquainted with an inmate named Poonam Rajan, a Kurukshetra resident, who was under judicial remand with three relatives — mother Prem Lata, brother Kuldeep Singh and sister-in-law Preeti.

The spokesperson said Kapoor convinced Prem Lata he will arrange their bail and acquittal from the court.

Kapoor, allegedly in connivance with Pawan Kumar, the then SHO of the Zirakpur police station and ASI Harjinder Singh, allegedly got Preeti declared innocent in the case, according to the spokesperson.

The spokesperson said that in lieu of this “favour”, Kapoor, through Harjinder Singh, allegedly obtained Prem Lata’s signatures on multiple cheques totalling Rs 100,00,000, deposited them under the names of persons known to him got them encashed.

The bureau official said offences have been made out against Kapoor, Pawan and Harjinder under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Kapoor has been arrested, he said, adding further investigation was underway. (PTI)