‘I am not on the run’: Punjab Vigilance Bureau chief as CBI raids continue at Mohali headquarters
Punjab Vigilance Chief Sharad Satya Chauhan says they will cooperate with CBI as investigators probe a multi-lakh bribery deal involving his personal reader.
The Bureau’s chief, Chauhan, a top contender for the post of director general of police (DGP) in Punjab, has come under scrutiny due to his proximity to the arrested reader. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi) In a piquant situation, Sharad Satya Chauhan, Chief Director of Punjab Vigilance Bureau, attended office Tuesday even as teams of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continued their raid at the bureau headquarters in Mohali in connection with a bribery racket involving his reader.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Chauhan, the senior-most IPS officer in the state, said that, contrary to media reports, he was present in his office. “You people (media) are saying that I am on the run. I am not. I am sitting in my office since morning. Last evening too, I was in my office till 6 pm. The Bureau will cooperate with CBI in whatever action they are taking,” the 1994 batch Indian Police Service officer said.
A statement issued by the Chief Director and later by the Vigilance Bureau too said, “A private individual has been caught by CBI, and the investigation is ongoing. If the name of anyone from the Bureau arises, we will cooperate fully with CBI and let the law take its course”.
Meanwhile, sources said Chauhan’s reader, Inspector O P Rana, who was nabbed red-handed Monday night at a Chandigarh five-star hotel while accepting Rs 14 lakh in cash, may be made an approver by CBI. Sources said the reader had not been arrested, and only one alleged middleman from Malout, Raghav Goyal, had been arrested.
The CBI probe, based on an FIR registered on May 11 in Chandigarh, centres on an alleged bribery scandal involving officials and middlemen demanding around Rs 20-25 lakh to settle cases. The role of a woman police officer of Punjab is also said to be under the scanner in the alleged deal.
CBI first raided a five-star hotel in Chandigarh on Monday night, where Inspector O P Rana was allegedly involved in a bribe transaction with a complainant. The agency reportedly seized around Rs 13 lakh in cash, along with documents, mobile phones, and audio recordings.
The raid extended to the Vigilance Bureau office late Monday night and into Tuesday morning, where CBI questioned staff and conducted a detailed search.
This development has raised serious questions about graft within Punjab’s anti-corruption body. The Bureau’s chief, Chauhan, a top contender for the post of director general of police (DGP) in Punjab, has come under scrutiny due to his proximity to the arrested reader.
Political reactions have begun pouring in, with the Congress leadership highlighting the irony of the state’s Vigilance Bureau facing such allegations.
Neither the Punjab Government nor the CBI has yet released a formal statement on the latest developments.
CBI sources say further arrests and details are expected as the probe progresses.
The Vigilance Bureau office, meanwhile, remained under heavy security today with additional plainclothes personnel deployed.
Share
