20 February Hoshiarpur- As part of the anti-corruption drive, Punjab Vigilance Bureau has arrested absconding Assistant Labor Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, Harpreet Singh, PCS, for demanding a bribe of Rs 30,000, who was absconding for the last three months. In this case, female computer operator Alka Sharma posted in his office has been arrested red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 in the name of Assistant Labor Commissioner.
Vigilance Bureau arrested Harpreet Singh when he surrendered in the local court after his bail plea was rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Hoshiarpur court today granted one-day police remand to the Vigilance Bureau for further investigation.
Giving information in this regard, the spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau said that the case has been registered on the basis of a complaint by a shopkeeper of Kashmiri Bazaar, Hoshiarpur. The spokesperson said that the complainant had informed the Vigilance Bureau that he had a jewellery shop which he had recently renovated. Later, he received a notice from the office of Assistant Labour Commissioner, Hoshiarpur.
When he went to the concerned office, the computer operator Alka Sharma told him that he will have to pay a heavy penalty in this case but she can help him resolve the matter by talking to her senior Assistant Labour Commissioner Harpreet Singh. The spokesperson further said that the complainant told that Alka Sharma took the notice from him and went to the office of Harpreet Singh.
After some time, she also called the complainant to the office where Harpreet Singh, PCS demanded a bribe of Rs 30,000 in lieu of cancelling the notice. The complainant recorded the conversation related to the bribe demand on the spot and submitted it to the Bureau as evidence. The spokesperson further said that after preliminary investigation of the complaint, the Vigilance Bureau team laid a trap during which the accused computer operator Alka Sharma was caught red handed while accepting bribe of Rs 10,000.
The Vigilance Bureau teams continued to raid various places to arrest Assistant Labour Commissioner Harpreet Singh, Hoshiarpur. The spokesperson said that the second accused in the case, Alka Sharma, is still in jail as the court has not granted her bail. Further investigation in the case is underway.