Chandigarh, March 5: As part of its campaign against corruption in the state, Punjab Vigilance Bureau today arrested Panchayat Secretary Avneet Singh Bajwa posted at Block Kurda, SAS Nagar on charges of demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000. In this bribery case, Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO) SAS Nagar Dhanwant Singh has also been booked as co-accused.
Giving information in this regard, the official spokesperson of the State Vigilance Bureau said that both the employees have been arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by a Sarpanch. He further said that the complainant in his complaint to the Vigilance Bureau informed that the BDPO had demanded and accepted bribe from him. And the Panchayat Secretary had demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 in lieu of issuing Utilization Certificate (UC) pertaining to the grant amount used for development works carried out by the Gram Panchayat from the year 2018-2023.
The spokesperson further said that after preliminary investigation of this complaint, the team of Vigilance Bureau laid a trap and arrested the said accused red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the complainant in the presence of two government witnesses. In this regard, a case has been registered against both the said accused under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 61(2) of BNS at Police Station, Flying Squad-1, S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab and further action is underway in this regard.