A patwari, who was wanted by the vigilance bureau for allegedly taking ₹34.70 lakh bribe, on Tuesday surrendered after his bail application was rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High court.
The accused, Gurwinder Singh, was on the run since November 24, 2023 after a corruption case was registered against him by the vigilance bureau.
Gurwinder was posted at revenue halqa Pirubanda. His brother Balwinder Singh, father Parmjeet Singh and an aide Nikku were also booked for allegedly conspiring with him in accepting bribes.
A spokesperson of the state VB said a case has been registered on a complaint lodged by Babbu Tanwar, a resident of Rampura Phul town in Bathinda against the said Patwari and his private agent Nikku on the anti-corruption action line.
The complainant alleged that the accused had accepted a bribe of ₹40,000 for sanctioning mutation of his father’s property near Ludhiana bus stand, registered in 1994.
The complainant further alleged to the VB that the patwari and his agent had also taken ₹3,40,000 for purchasing two ‘i-phones’ along with smart watches as well as a ‘Pakistani jutti’ costing ₹3 lakhs from him. In addition to this, the complainant had spent an amount of ₹80,000 on the birthday party of Nikku.
{{/usCountry}}The complainant further alleged to the VB that the patwari and his agent had also taken ₹3,40,000 for purchasing two ‘i-phones’ along with smart watches as well as a ‘Pakistani jutti’ costing ₹3 lakhs from him. In addition to this, the complainant had spent an amount of ₹80,000 on the birthday party of Nikku.
{{/usCountry}}The spokesperson informed that during the probe, it was found that the Patwari, his father, brother and Nikku had obtained bribes of ₹27,50,000 on four occasions.
He informed that as per the verification, the patwari neither did the mutation of property in question nor returned the amount obtained from the complainant for this purpose.
He further added that in this regard, an FIR under section 7 and 7-A of Prevention of Corruption Act and under section 420, 120-B of the IPC was registered at VB police station Ludhiana range against the four accused. The spokesperson said that the father and brother of the patwari had already secured bail from court.
The patwari will be produced in a court on Wednesday.