Chandigarh, October 23
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), as part of its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, has arrested Pritpal Singh, the private assistant of Patwari Maninder Singh, red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹30,000 in connection with the correction of land revenue records in village Chauke, tehsil Maur, district Bathinda.
Disclosing this information on Wednesday, an official spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau said the arrest followed a complaint lodged by a resident of village Thikriwala in Barnala district.
According to the complaint, the complainant, along with his brother and sister, had purchased land in village Chauke in 2002. However, he recently discovered that the revenue records continued to show the name of the previous seller instead of the names of the new owners.
watch….Gen Z ਨੂੰ ਸਿਆਸਤ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੱਧ ਮੌਕੇ ਦੇਣ ਦੀ ਮੰਗ, ਚੋਣਾਂ ਲੜਨ ਦੀ ਉਮਰ 25 ਤੋਂ ਘਟਾ ਕੇ 21 ਸਾਲ ਕੀਤੀ ਜਾਵੇ
To get the records corrected, the complainant approached Patwari Maninder Singh of the Chauke revenue estate. The Patwari allegedly directed him to contact his private assistant, Pritpal Singh.
The complainant alleged that Pritpal Singh subsequently demanded a bribe of ₹1.5 lakh to get the correction done.
The spokesperson further stated that during a subsequent visit to the Patwari’s office, Pritpal Singh took the complainant behind the office building and connected him with Patwari Maninder Singh over the phone. During the conversation, the alleged bribe amount was negotiated down to ₹1.4 lakh.
Pritpal Singh allegedly accepted ₹2,000 at that time and asked the complainant to pay the next instalment on October 22, 2026.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the Vigilance Bureau’s Bathinda Range and lodged a complaint.
Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance Bureau team laid a trap and arrested Pritpal Singh red-handed while he was allegedly accepting ₹30,000 from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses.
A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused at the Vigilance Bureau Police Station in Bathinda. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
