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Drug inspector held for seeking ₹1 lakh bribe in Punjab
Bribe was sought for issuing a medical store licence in Pathankot; Gurdaspur civil hospital peon, who acted as conduit, arrested too
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has arrested a woman drug inspector and a conduit for allegedly demanding ₹1 lakh bribe in lieu of issuing a licence for a medical store in Pathankot.
The accused have been identified as Bableen Kaur, who is posted as the drug inspector for Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts, and Rakesh Kumar, who is a peon at the Gurdaspur civil hospital. The two were arrested following a complaint lodged through the anti-corruption helpline, said vigilance inspector Inderjit Singh.
According to the complainant, Pathankot resident Arun Sharma had allegedly approached the drug inspector for getting a licence for his medical store, following which he was told to meet Rakesh Kumar. According to Arun, Rakesh had demanded ₹1 lakh, but the deal was struck at ₹90,000 and the money was to be paid in three instalments.
After Arun lodged a complaint, a trap was laid to arrest the duo, said Inderjit Singh. “On Tuesday, Rakesh Kumar was arrested red-handed while accepting the first instalment of ₹30,000. A video of the operation was also recorded. During questioning, Rakesh confessed that the bribe was taken at the behest of Bableen Kaur, who was then arrested from Amritsar on Wednesday morning,” he said.
The vigilance team also seized some documents from Bableen’s house situated in the New Amritsar locality. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the duo in Pathankot. They were later produced in court, which sent them to one-day police remand for further questioning.
