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Punjab VB arrests mining dept XEN, SDO for taking bribe of ₹5 lakh
The vigilance team raided the mining office at Canal Colony in Hoshiarpur and caught executive engineer Sartaj Singh and SDO Harjinder Singh red-handed
The Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) on Thursday arrested an executive engineer (XEN) and a sub divisional officer (SDO) of the mining department while they were taking a bribe of ₹5 lakh from a contractor.
The vigilance team, under the supervision of deputy superintendent of police Manish Kumar, raided the mining office at Canal Colony in Hoshiarpur and caught XEN Sartaj Singh and SDO Harjinder Singh red-handed, a VB spokesman said.
In his complaint, Jaspreet Singh, a site controller of a private company, stated that his company had deposited a royalty of ₹41 lakh with the mining department to lift sand from Ghagwal village in Dasuya sub division as they had secured a contract to drop sand along the Mukerian-Talwara railway line. Later, when they came to know that the area was a protected forest and closed under Sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, they applied to the mining department to transfer the royalty. The complainant alleged that the XEN and SDO demanded ₹12 lakh for the job but eventually agreed to do it for ₹8 lakh.
After preliminary investigation, a VB team reached the mining office and caught the two officials with the bribe money in the presence of witnesses. A case was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Jalandhar range VB station.
