Gurugram: Police constable held for taking ₹15,000 bribe over Grap violation

The incident took place on Sunday when officials said constable Yash Pal, 30, posted at the DLF police station in Sector 29, was on rider-patrol duty.

A police constable has been arrested for demanding a bribe from a DLF Phase-IV resident to allow construction work to continue at his residence and threatening to book him for violating pollution norms, Haryana anti-corruption bureau (ACB) officials said on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the accused was produced before the vigilance court and sent to 14-days of judicial custody.

The incident took place on Sunday when officials said constable Yash Pal, 30, posted at the DLF police station in Sector 29, was on rider-patrol duty.

According to ACB officials, Pal was patrolling in the DLF Phase-IV area when he noticed construction work going on at the ground floor of a house. He contacted the property owner and asked for a bribe of ₹15,000 to allow the construction work to continue.

He allegedly told the man that if he refused to give him the bribe, Pal would book him for violating Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) stage-3 norms, said ACB officials.

“The constable later demanded ₹15,000 or be ready to face the consequences. All this was unfolding when the CAQM (commission for air quality management) had already removed Grap stage-3 on November 27, allowing construction work to continue. The constable was fully aware of it,” an official, on condition of anonymity, said.

Officials said that no construction work is permitted once GRAP stage-III comes into force.

ACB officials said the matter was not settled on Sunday and the constable contacted the owner about the bribe on Monday. The next morning, the owner approached the Gurugram ACB police station and filed a complaint against Pal.

Officials said that the allegations verified based on telephonic conversation recording of both sides from which it was evident that the constable was demanding a bribe.

Following this, an FIR was registered against the constable under Section 7 (public servant accepting or obtaining a bribe) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and a trap was laid to nab him. The house owner was asked to contact the constable and ask him to collect the bribe. Pal was arrested from the spot when he arrived.

On Wednesday, he was produced before the vigilance court and sent to 14-days of judicial custody.

He had joined Haryana police in 2017, said officials.

This is the second arrest by Haryana ACB within two days from the city. On Monday, a team arrested a state health department assistant from the civil surgeon’s office in Gurugram while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹3.25 lakh from a diagnostic centre owner to issue him a no objection certificate (NOC).