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Ludhiana: Police department tops corruption arrests, 26 officials nabbed in 2 years
Among the arrested police officials, ACP Nirdosh Kaur and her reader, Beant Singh, were held on August 1, 2024, for allegedly accepting a bribe to influence an investigation
The police department has come under scrutiny after emerging as the top offender in corruption cases, with 26 police personnel, including a woman assistant commissioner of police (ACP), arrested by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) over the past two and a half years. Among the 134 accused arrested for graft in Ludhiana since July 2022, government employees from the revenue department and the municipal corporation (MC) followed closely behind in the second and third positions, respectively.
Official data reveals that the police department has dismissed 52 tainted personnel, from constables to inspectors, for serious misconduct. Among them, four officers from Ludhiana were removed, including Inspector Kuldeep Singh, who was convicted on corruption charges.
According to VB officials, 134 accused have been arrested since July 2022, including 40 individuals caught red-handed while accepting bribes. Among the arrested police officials, ACP Nirdosh Kaur and her reader, Beant Singh, were held on August 1, 2024, for allegedly accepting a bribe to influence an investigation.
One of the high-profile arrests was that of regional transport authority (RTA) secretary, Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, a PCS officer who was taken into custody on January 6, 2023, for allegedly running an organised bribery racket targeting transporters. Meanwhile, 14 officials from the revenue department and 11 from the MC, including a sub-divisional officer (SDO), were also booked on corruption charges.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) vigilance bureau, Ravinderpal Singh, stated that the anti-corruption drive is ongoing and encouraged complainants to report graft cases via the anti-corruption helpline. He also mentioned the recent arrest of a Mullanpur Dakha resident, who posed as a Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) officer and accepted bribes worth ₹42.6 lakh for falsely promising to secure NOCs for property transfers.
High-profile case quashed
The Vigilance Bureau had earlier arrested 15 individuals, including former state cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, in an alleged food grain transportation scam in July 2022. However, the Punjab and Haryana high court cancelled the FIR in December 2024.
