The Punjab Vigilance Bureau, during its ongoing drive against corruption in the state, on Tuesday arrested Gurazad Singh, Superintendent, posted in the office of Assistant Registrar (AR), Cooperative Societies, Dera Bassi, SAS Nagar district while accepting a bribe of Rs. 10,000.
According to an official spokesperson of the VB, the arrest followed a complaint filed by a resident of village Chhachhroli in Dera Bassi. The complainant had availed a Rs. 2 lakh loan in 2012 from Rani Majra Multipurpose Agricultural Cooperative Service Society but defaulted on repayments, accumulating Rs. 3,16,632 in dues.
Afterwards, the complainant had cleared the entire outstanding amount of Rs. 4,14,500 on March 13 this year and obtained necessary clearance from the said Society. The complainant alleged that, despite this, the said accused official had demanded Rs. 10,000 to get approval from the AR and to process the land release order free from mortgage.
The spokesperson informed the after preliminary verification of this complaint, the VB Flying Squad team laid a trap and apprehended the aforementioned accused red-handed in his office while he was receiving Rs 10000 bribe from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.
The VB team have also recovered unsigned typed orders of AR related to the case from the accused's possession.In this regard a case under relevant sections of prevention of corruption act has been registered against the said official at VB police station, flying squad-1, Punjab at SAS Nagar and further investigation into this case is ongoing, he said.