CBI arrests IAS officer in Punjab for accepting bribe of Rs 2 lakh

The CBI on Monday arrested senior IAS officer Paramjit Singh, posted as the director of Punjab Roadways, in Chandigarh for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2 lakh for recommending an officer's name for promotion, officials said.

The CBI carried out a raid where Singh, who was elevated to IAS after promotion from state civil services, was allegedly receiving the bribe money for recommending the officer's name to the Punjab transport department's principal secretary for promotion, they said.

The central agency carried out searches at the premises of Singh in Mohali and Chandigarh from where Rs 30 lakh was recovered, the officials said.

The person from whom Singh had allegedly demanded the bribe had approached the CBI with a complaint, they said.

''It was alleged that the complainant was due for promotion to the rank of general manager, for which a DPC (Departmental Promotion Committee) was constituted in January 2022 and the director (Singh) was part of the said DPC.

''It was further alleged that the accused demanded a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from the complainant for recommending his name to the principal secretary, Transport, Government of Punjab, for promotion to the rank of general manager,'' CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said.

It was also alleged that the bribe amount was negotiated and the accused agreed to accept Rs 2 lakh, he said.

''The said Director (Singh), Punjab Roadways, Chandigarh allegedly threatened the complainant to bear the consequences in case the said bribe amount was not paid to him,'' Joshi said.

After getting a complaint and preliminary verification, the CBI laid a trap at the location where the alleged bribe money was to be paid, he said.

The team raided the location after getting the signal and caught Singh while allegedly accepting Rs 2 lakh, the officials said.