The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its ongoing anti-corruption drive in the state, on Tuesday has arrested Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Raj Kumar, posted at Helpline No. 112, district Tarn Taran police, for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000. According to an official spokesperson of the VB, the arrest followed a complaint by Raj Karan, a resident of Muradpur, in Tarn Taran district.
He further informed that the complainant has approached the VB and alleged that the ASI had demanded a bribe of ₹30,000 in lieu of returning a mobile phone and refraining from falsely implicating a close associate of the complainant under the NDPS Act. He added that after a preliminary inquiry into this complaint a VB team laid a trap during which the said accused was caught red-handed accepting Rs 5,000 bribe from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.
The spokesperson informed that during investigations it has came to light that the accused police official was part of a honey trap network involving other police officials and private individuals, including women. These accused, in connivance with their accomplice women, used to lure unsuspecting individuals to hotels, after which the accused police personnel and their associates would arrive at the scene and blackmail the victims into paying large sums of money.
In this regard a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered at the VB Police Station, Range Amritsar. The accused would be presented in the competent court tomorrow, and further investigations into this case was under progress, he said.