Reinforcing the zero-tolerance policy against corruption adopted by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab government, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested Balwant Singh, a clerk posted at the District Development and Panchayats Office (DDPO) Ferozepur while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 60,000.
An official spokesperson of the state VB disclosed that the accused was arrested based on a complaint filed by a resident of village Lalley, Tehsil Talwandi Bhai in Ferozepur district. The spokesperson stated that the complainant had approached the VB alleging that he had applied for agricultural loan limit from a private bank.
In his application, he had mentioned his own land only but the bank has declined to sanction this limit. Someone had informed the DDPO office that the revenue record of panchayat land was also attached with the documents to get loan limit that the complainant had been cultivating after winning it in an auction.
According to the complaint, the aforementioned Clerk has threatened the complainant regarding the submission of revenue records of the panchayat land to the bank and demanded a bribe of Rs one lakh to avoid taking any adverse action. The accused later agreed to accept Rs 60,000 as the bribe amount.
After preliminary verification of the complaint, a VB team from Ferozepur range laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed while he was accepting the bribe of Rs 60,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused at the VB police station Ferozepur range.
The accused would be produced before the competent court tomorrow, and further investigation in the case is underway, he said.