Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), during its ongoing drive against corruption in the state, has arrested a Forest Guard, holding additional Block Incharge, Forest Range Office, Patiala, red-handed while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 1,50,000.
Disclosing this, an official spokesperson of the state VB said the arrested accused Amandeep Singh who demanded a bribe in lieu of issuing to complainant a No Objection Certificate (NOC) related to land purchased for a Nursing Home at Devigarh Road, Patiala.
The complainant has informed the VB that the bribe was demanded jointly by Swaran Singh, Forest Range Officer, Patiala, and Amandeep Singh.
The spokesperson added that after preliminary verification of this complaint, the VB team laid a trap during which the accused Amandeep Singh was apprehended in the presence of two official witnesses, and the bribe money was recovered on the spot from the accused.
In this regard, a case under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and under section 61(2) of the BNS has been registered against the said accused at VB Police Station, Patiala range.
The other co-accused, Swaran Singh, Forest Range Officer, will be arrested soon, he said. Further investigation of this case is in progress, he added.