Punjab Police Arrest Congress Minister On ₹1 Cr Bribery Allegation

The Vigilance Bureau Punjab has arrested former Punjab Industries minister Sundar Sham Arora for offering a bribe of ₹1 crore to an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of the Bureau.

NEW DELHI | Updated: 16 October, 2022 11:04 am IST
Former Punjab minister Sundar Sham Arora

The Vigilance Bureau Punjab has arrested former Punjab Industries minister Sundar Sham Arora for offering a bribe of ₹1 crore to an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of the Bureau.

Varinder Kumar, chief director, Vigilance Bureau Punjab, said a case was registered on October 15, 2022, under section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Arora on the statement of Manmohan Kumar, AIG, VB, Flying Squad Punjab.

Kumar further said that AIG Manmohan Kumar had complained that Arora met him on October 14, 2022 and offered him ₹1 crore for getting favour in a vigilance inquiry registered against him.

The VB chief further added that the former MLA has offered to pay ₹50 lakh on the next day, that is, October 15, 2022 and the AIG has apprised the chief director, who has ordered a bribery case against the accused. In this case, Arora has been arrested and ₹50 lakh has been recovered from him. Further investigation, in this case, is in progress.

Arora was elected as a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Hoshiarpur in 2017. He was a minister in Captain Amarinder Singh government. He won the Hoshiarpur constituency on a Congress ticket when he beat the BJP’s Tikshan Sud by over 11,233 votes.

According to reports, V Kumar, chief director, Vigilance Bureau Punjab, said at a media briefing, “Our team caught Sunder Sham Arora red-handed while offering bribe and arrested him under Section 8 (Prevention of Corruption Act). A bribe amount of ₹50 lakh has also been recovered. We will produce the accused former minister in court today and seek a remand for interrogation.”

Arora was the third former Congress minister to be arrested in six months. Earlier, former Minister of Forests and Social Welfare Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and former Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Bharat Bhushan Ashu were arrested on corruption charges.

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