The transfer of four station house officers (SHOs) from Division Number 3 police station in seven months has allegedly given 10 police personnel accused of taking bribes from lottery sellers repeated opportunities to seek more time in the long-pending case, officials familiar with the matter said.
According to the officials, each new SHO seeks additional time from the court to familiarise themselves with the voluminous case record after taking charge. The officer attends barely one or two hearings before being transferred, following which the new incumbent repeats the process, they said. The cycle has led to repeated requests for adjournments and further delayed the proceedings.
The issue has gained significance after a special court in Ludhiana recently expressed concern over the alleged failure of police to identify individuals appearing in 28 video clips, caught accepting bribes, submitted as evidence in the case. Taking a serious view, the court directed that the matter be brought to the notice of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the home affairs portfolio.
The posting trail shows inspector Nardev Singh served as SHO from January 20 to March 25, 2026, followed by inspector Balwinder Kaur from April 10 to May 6. Inspector Amarjit Singh then held the post from May 6 to June 14, while inspector Gurjit Singh took charge on June 14 and continues in the post.
{{/usCountry}}The posting trail shows inspector Nardev Singh served as SHO from January 20 to March 25, 2026, followed by inspector Balwinder Kaur from April 10 to May 6. Inspector Amarjit Singh then held the post from May 6 to June 14, while inspector Gurjit Singh took charge on June 14 and continues in the post.
{{/usCountry}}The case dates back to 2019-20, when lottery trader Subhash Ketty alleged that police personnel were openly accepting bribes from lottery sellers. He first submitted video evidence to the then commissioner of police, Rakesh Agrawal. After no action followed, Ketty approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, following which an FIR was registered in March 2020.
Eleven police officials have so far been booked in the case, and a chargesheet has been filed against 10 of them. Ketty, however, maintains that 28 police personnel were captured on camera during the sting operation.
The police administration has not officially linked the frequent transfers to the bribery case.
Swapan Sharma, Ludhiana commissioner of police, said “Ludhiana, being a large and densely populated city, has an overworked police force and officers are reshuffled to manage the workload.”
The allegation that the frequent transfers are being used to delay the proceedings could not be independently verified by HT.