NHAI official held taking bribe of Rs 80,000 in Moga

He was allegedly accepting a bribe in lieu of helping a hotel owner to get approval for compensation for his land acquired for construction of the Bagahpurana-Nihal Singhwala highway

The Punjab vigilance bureau has arrested a junior engineer (JE) of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday, while allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 80,000 in lieu of helping a hotel owner to get approval for compensation for his land acquired for construction of the Bagahpurana-Nihal Singhwala highway.

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Ferozepur range SSP (VB) Hargobind Singh said that JE Honey Singh posted at NHAI central works division-2 PWD, Bathinda, was arrested with Rs 80, 000. Complainant Jagroop Singh, of Gholia Kalan, runs a hotel on Phulewala bridge, which is on a two-kanal land and his land was supposed to be acquired for construction of NH-254.

“An assessment of the land was conducted by JEs Honey Bansal and Amarjit Singh, both posted in Bathinda. Jagroop alleged that when he complained that as per assessment compensation is low, both the JEs demanded 10% of the total amount of compensation for increasing the amount. A deal was struck for Rs 4.70 lakh. The complainant disclosed that he has already paid Rs 3.50 lakh to the JEs,” he added.

After verifying the information, the VB team laid a trap and the accused JE was arrested on the spot while accepting bribe from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.

The SSP said that both the accused JEs were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. “We are conducting raids to nab Amarjit. Involvement of other officials will also be investigated,” he added.