Chandigarh, August 21, 2025
Upholding the zero-tolerance policy against corruption under Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann’s leadership, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested Balwant Singh, a clerk at the District Development and Panchayats Office (DDPO) in Ferozepur, for accepting a bribe of Rs 60,000.
A VB spokesperson revealed that the arrest followed a complaint from a resident of village Lalley, Tehsil Talwandi Bhai, Ferozepur. The complainant alleged that he had applied for an agricultural loan from a private bank, specifying only his own land in the application. However, the bank rejected the loan, and it was discovered that revenue records of panchayat land, which the complainant had been cultivating after winning in an auction, were wrongly included with his documents.
The spokesperson stated that Balwant Singh, the accused clerk, threatened the complainant over the inclusion of panchayat land records and demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh to refrain from taking adverse action. The clerk later agreed to accept Rs 60,000 as the bribe amount.
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Following a preliminary investigation, the VB’s Ferozepur range team set up a trap and apprehended the accused red-handed while he accepted the Rs 60,000 bribe in the presence of two official witnesses.
A case has been registered against Balwant Singh under the Prevention of Corruption Act at the VB Police Station, Ferozepur Range. He is scheduled to be presented before a competent court on August 22, 2025, and further investigations are ongoing.
