Amritsar, November 1: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Friday arrested a Chheharta resident while he was accepting a ₹5 lakh bribe allegedly on behalf of the local station house officer (SHO), officials said.
Identified as Lalit Arora, the accused was caught red-handed by a Vigilance Bureau (VB) team after a complaint was filed by a local resident, who claimed that police officials had falsely implicated him and his cousin in a drug trafficking case.
According to a VB spokesperson, the complainant said that the SHO and his team had visited his residence, alleging that a car containing drugs belonging to him had been seized. They allegedly warned him that a criminal case would soon be filed unless he “settled” the matter.
The complainant later met Lalit Arora, said to be close to the SHO, who allegedly demanded ₹25 lakh on the officer’s behalf in exchange for not registering the case. “The complainant agreed to pay ₹5 lakh as part payment, after which a trap was laid,” the spokesperson said.
The VB team from the Amritsar range apprehended Arora while accepting the ₹5 lakh bribe in the presence of two official witnesses. The Bureau has registered a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act at its Amritsar range police station.
“The accused will be produced before court on Saturday, and further investigation to determine the SHO’s role is underway,” the official added.
