New chapter in Sidhu scam: Key ‘conduit cop’ is caught

Wanted in a record 113 cases, Pherurai was alleged to have bribed the now-suspended chairman of Punjab Public Service Commission Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu to get his daughter and son recruited as PCS officer and DSP, respectively.

A part of the alleged payment of Rs 1 crore was said to have been made in fake currency he had allegedly seized from smugglers during his tenure as Ferozepur SSP.

‘‘Pherurai survived all those years by milking Ferozepur district with the active connivance of not only leading politicians but also the highest levels of the police establishment. Police officers were known not only to have been bribed by Pherurai but were also helped by him in procuring land.

On the political front, Pherurai is learnt to have played a role in swinging politicians to his masters’ side through money power,’’ alleged a top police officer.

Though the police claimed that he had been nabbed, Pherurai is learnt to have surrendered before the Jagraon police after two mediators — Jasbir Singh Rode and a local, Gurdeep Singh — negotiated with senior officers over the past week. He had been on the run for over a month, taking refuge in places such as Balesar in Sirsa district and certain police establishments of Haryana.

Highly-placed sources said the operation leading to his surrender was initiated after he approached a leading Akali leader known for his proximity to Capt Amarinder Singh through Rode.

‘‘He was advised to surrender and the modalities were later worked out at various levels of the police and the place for the ‘arrest’ was selected as the farmhouse of his sister in the Baghapurana area of Moga police district. The police party, led by Patiala range DIG I P S Sahota and Jagroan SSP M S Chhina, picked up Pherurai from the arranged venue at the farmhouse today,’’ said the sources.

Addressing reporters, SSP Chhina said Pherurai has been booked under Section 13-1 (E) of the Corruption Act.

Pherurai was brought to Jagraon where he was medically examined at the civil hospital. Dressed in a kurta-pyjama, the former officer was a picture of composure and calmly fielded questions from mediapersons. He claimed he had himself surrendered and wasn’t worried at all.

Pherurai, for whose capture the police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh, was later taken to Raikot, where he is being interrogated. Tomorrow, he will be brought back to Jagraon to be presented before tehsil magistrate Gurmeet Singh along with his brother Gurmail Pherurai.

The court had issued non-bailable warrants for his arrest and rejected his plea for anticipatory bail.

On October 11, Jagraon Police had arrested Pherurai’s brother, Gurmel Singh, from Barsal village, while he was driving out of the house of one of his relatives. The police had then said that Gurmel had admitted that the car he was driving had been given to him by his brother when he was SSP at Ferozepur.