Extortion case registered against police officer
Chandigarh (ANI): The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has registered a case against an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of the Human Rights Cell of Punjab Police along with two others for alleged extortion and bribery from government employees. The AIG has been identified as Malvinder Singh Sidhu, and the other two have been identified as Kuldeep Singh, a driver in the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, and Balbir Singh, a resident of Alampur village in Patiala district.
Speaking on the matter, VB, a spokesperson for the state, said that AIG Sidhu used to initiate complaints against government employees, and later withdraw these complaints in the process of blackmailing and in return for illegal benefits. “Based on the vigilance investigation, VB has taken strict legal steps, resulting in registration of FIR No. 28, dated October 30, 2023, under sections 7 and 7-A of the Prevention of Cruelty to Police, against all the above accused.” at Police Station Vigilance Bureau, Flying Squad-1, Punjab, Mohali under sections 384, 419, 420 and 120-B of the Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code,” Punjab VB said.
He further informed that during investigation, it was found that Malvinder Singh Sidhu, serving as AIG, Human Rights Cell, Punjab since 2017, has never served in the post of AIG or IG within the Vigilance Bureau, Punjab in the last five years . , This officer misused his official vehicle Ertiga (PB 65 AD 1905) while fuel and other expenses were being withdrawn from the government account. However, they never maintained a record (a log book) of the vehicle usage, which indicated misuse of government property, he said. Further, the investigation revealed instances where AIG Sidhu, a data operator working in the office of the Block Primary Education Officer, Rajpura, wrongly identified himself as IG, Vigilance Bureau, Punjab.
Using this false identity, Sidhu obtained a photocopy of a government teacher’s service book and took photographs of the initial page using his mobile phone. Similarly, AIG Sidhu allegedly sent a written application to the Principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Ghanour on the email ID of the school and sent another application through the said accused Kuldeep Singh, and obtained the record of a school teacher. To check the records of these teachers taken from the school, he took the District Social Welfare Officer with him to the school and tried to get the principal to sign a two-page proforma, but the principal refused to sign the form.
The spokesperson said. He further said that another case under investigation involves Malvinder Singh Sidhu, who obtained the personal records of a Block Officer in the Agriculture Department in Guru Harsahay, District Firozpur, despite objections raised by the concerned officer through the above mentioned Balbir Singh Was. After this he lodged a complaint against the concerned officer in his department for possessing fake Scheduled Caste certificate. In return for withdrawal of this complaint, Rs 3 lakh was demanded from the officer, out of which Balbir Singh and Malvinder Singh Sidhu took Rs 1.5 lakh illegally.
After this, the said Balbir Singh and Malvinder Singh Sidhu also took a bribe of Rs 2 lakh to give more time to the victim from their department to complete this investigation. The spokesperson further said that Malvinder Singh Sidhu in collusion with Balbir Singh in the departments of Scheduled Castes and Freedom Fighters has dishonestly described himself as AIG/IG of Vigilance Bureau, thereby obtaining records of several persons, and Later complaints were initiated against him. , blackmailing them and extorting bribes in exchange for withdrawal of these complaints. The spokesperson said that as the investigation unfolds in the coming days, there is a possibility that more associates may be involved, which will be duly investigated throughout the investigation. (ANI)
