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Ludhiana: Court raps police for making excuses in 5-yr-old bribery case
The judge made it clear that if the department failed to do so, it would have to submit a formal report explaining its “incapacity”
A local court came down heavily on the Ludhiana Police for failing to identify policemen allegedly caught on camera accepting bribes even more than five years after the case surfaced and has directed the department to complete the identification of officials appearing in 28 video clips at the earliest.
The observations were made on Friday by special judge Amrinder Singh Shergill when inspector Nardev Singh, SHO of Division No. 3 police station, and ACP (central) Anil Kumar Bhanot appeared before the court. The officers again sought more time to identify the policemen seen in the video clips submitted as evidence. The court noted that this was the third consecutive hearing in which different officers had appeared, but the explanation remained unchanged.
Expressing strong displeasure, the court observed that a police force tasked with tracing and arresting unknown criminals could not claim it was unable to identify its own personnel.
The judge made it clear that if the department failed to do so, it would have to submit a formal report explaining its “incapacity.”
A status report placed before the court stated that efforts were being made with the help of cyber investigation and technical support units to identify the individuals seen in the footage.
However, the court found the explanation unsatisfactory and ordered that a separate letter be sent to the Punjab chief secretary to ensure effective action in the matter.
The case has now been adjourned to January 28.
The case dates back to 2019–20, when lottery trader Subhash Ketty alleged that police personnel were openly taking bribes from lottery sellers in the city. He had first submitted video evidence to then commissioner of police, Rakesh Agrawal. When no action was taken, he approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, which led to the registration of an FIR in March 2020.
So far, the police have booked 11 officials and filed a chargesheet against 10 of them. However, Ketty maintains that 28 policemen were caught on camera during the sting operation, raising questions over selective action and accountability within the department.
