Punjab govt staffer held for demanding ₹15,000 bribe

Sought the bribe to issue an NOC to a government doctor for his admission to a course at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

The UT vigilance department on Wednesday arrested a Punjab health department employee for demanding Rs 15,000 as bribe to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC).

On being arrested, he claimed that he accepted the bribe at the behest of a secretary, whose role is being investigated. (Representative photo)

The accused, Surinderjit Singh Shah, is a senior assistant in the health department at the Punjab Mini-Secretariat, Sector 9.

On being arrested, he claimed that he accepted the bribe at the behest of a secretary, whose role is being investigated.

Shah was arrested on the complaint of a medical officer from Faridkot civil hospital. The complainant, whose name has been withheld by the department, was selected as a sponsored candidate for the MD/MS course at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

For the admission process, an NOC was signed and forwarded by the director, health services, to the Punjab Mini-Secretariat.

The complainant recently visited the office to seek the status of the NOC, when Shah demanded Rs 15,000 to issue the document.

On this, the officer filed a complaint at the vigilance police station. A trap was laid behind the building of the mini-secretariat where Shah was arrested red-handed while accepting the bribe. The bribe amount was recovered from him.

Shah has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.