Punjab: Abohar fire officer caught red-handed while accepting bribe

An official spokesperson of the VB said Varinder Kathuria, posted at Abohar, reportedly demanded the bribe from Rishav Kalia, resident of Abohar in Fazilka district. The complainant sells new fire extinguishers and refills old fire extinguishers

The vigilance bureau (VB) on Tuesday arrested a fire officer on the charge of accepting a bribe of ₹20,000.

The accused was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe. (HT File)

An official spokesperson of the VB said Varinder Kathuria, posted at Abohar, reportedly demanded the bribe from Rishav Kalia, resident of Abohar in Fazilka district. The complainant sells new fire extinguishers and refills old fire extinguishers.

“The accused reportedly demanded a bribe of ₹25,0000- ₹30,000 in the form of commission for the bills to be cleared by him. Besides this, the complainant met the accused at his house regarding clearance of his other bills also,” the spokesperson said.

“The complainant did not want to pay a bribe to him for his rightful work. He recorded his conversation with the accused and reported the matter to the VB unit in Fazilka,” the spokesperson added.

Following the complaint, the accused was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe, amounting to ₹20,000, in presence of a government witness. A case has been registered against the accused.

The accused fire officer will be produced in a court on Wednesday.

The statement of the complainant was recorded at the Vigilance Bureau, Unit Fazilka. Subsequently the accused was caught red handed while accepting the bribe of ₹20,000/- in presence of Govt. witness and the said case was registered against the aforesaid accused u/s 7 P.C Act 1988, as Amended by PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 Police Station Vigilance Bureau, Range Ferozpur. The instant case is under investigation. The accused Fire officer will be produced before the competent court tomorrow.