Corruption case: Three Home Guards sent to judicial remand

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Aparna Bhardwaj today sent three Home Guard personnel to judicial custody in a case of cheating and corruption. The accused have been identified as Sachin, Mandeep and Siyaram.

The case pertained to allegations of duping a commuter, an Additional District Attorney (ADA), of Rs 1,000 at the Jaloli toll plaza in Panchkula, in which the money collected through a QR code transaction was transferred to account of a sweets shop owner.

The ACB had booked three individuals — Exemptee Sub-Inspector Om Prakash, Haryana Home Guard Sachin and Special Police Officer Surender — in October on the basis of a complaint and an investigation. In his complaint to the ACB, ADA Rohit Singla said he was duped of Rs 1,000 in the name of issuing a challan. He said he was going from Panchkula toward Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra in his car on August 27, 2023, when he was stopped by police officials and asked to pay Rs 1,000 challan for overspeeding. He paid the amount online by scanning a QR code on his mobile phone, but was not issued a receipt for the same. He then complained to the police.

The ACB found out that the said amount was transferred into the bank account of Yashpal Sachdeva, a sweets shop owner and a resident of Dera Bassi in Mohali. The ACB found out that the three accused officials were present at the Jaloli toll plaza on the said date as traffic vehicle interceptor. As per call details, one accused had also called Sachdeva from his mobile.

Public prosecutor Yavneet Dhakla said while Sachin was named in the initial FIR, Mandeep and Siyaram were included and arrested as part of the investigation.