The flying squad of vigilance bureau, SAS Nagar, on Sunday arrested a mining officer of Rupnagar while accepting Rs 50,000 in bribe. The accused identified as Harpreet Singh, a resident of Rupnagar, was serving as the block-level mining officer here.
Balwinder Singh, a contractor, had claimed that the accused had been harassing him on trumped-up claims that he was extracting more sand from the riverbed. He was demanding Rs 3 lakh for stopping the harassment, but the deal was finally settled at Rs 1 lakh.
Meanwhile, he approached the SAS Nagar vigilance bureau and on Sunday, when he went to handover the first instalment of Rs 50,000, when he was held. Superintendent of police (SP) Hargobind Singh, who laid the trap, said: “We have recovered the amount of Rs 50,000 from the possession of the accused.
He has been remanded to judicial custody. A case has been registered under several sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.”