Arrested SHO sent to police remand
Former Phagwar City SHO Jatinder Kumar who was arrested by a Vigilance Bureau (VB) team while accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 on Friday at Phagwara was produced before Judicial Magistrate Bhawna Bharti in the Sessions Court. The magistrate sent the accused in police remand for further investigation. He will be produced in court on October 14.
The VB had arrested Kumar, posted as SHO at Phagwara City police station, along with his accomplice, Jaskaran Singh alias Jassa, a resident of Burj Hamira village in Moga district, red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000.
The arrests were made following a complaint lodged by Kulwinder Kaur, a resident of Chachoki village near Phagwara. Kulwinder told the VB that the accused had detained her son Harshdeep, his wife Ashima and his brother-in-law Ansh Sharma in March while they were dining at a local eatery in Phagwara. A Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) case was then registered against her son at the said police station. Subsequently, the accused police personnel demanded Rs 50,000 in exchange for not involving Harshdeep’s wife and brother-in-law in the case and the complainant, under pressure, paid the bribe.
She alleged that later, Kumar allegedly demanded another Rs 50,000 to exclude Harshdeep’s mobile phone, worth Rs 1.5 lakh, along with a gold ring and gold ear studs, from the case’s evidence. The complainant paid the bribe and had the items returned to her. The complainant further alleged the accused repeatedly contacted her, asking her to pay bills totalling Rs 35,000–40,000 for plants and pots he had purchased from a nursery and she paid the amount. Additionally, Kumar demanded Rs one lakh in exchange for filing a favorable challan in court and supporting her son during the trial and evidence.
A final settlement of Rs 50,000 was agreed upon, which the complainant recorded and submitted as evidence to the VB. The spokesperson said after a preliminary inquiry into the complaint, a VB team laid a trap during which Kumar and his accomplice were caught accepting the bribe in the presence of two official witnesses. In this regard, a case has been registered against both the accused at the VB police station.
