Chandigarh, Jun 21 (PTI) The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has arrested IAS officer Sanjay Popli in a graft case for allegedly demanding bribe in exchange of clearing tenders for laying sewerage pipeline in Nawanshahr. His alleged conduit identified as Sandeep Wats has also been rounded up from Jalandhar, an official statement said here on Tuesday. Both the arrests were made on Monday. Complainant Sanjay Kumar of Karnal in Haryana, a government contractor with a firm under the name of Dikhadala Cooperative Society Limited, in his complaint said that Sanjay Popli, during his posting as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board in connivance with his Assistant Secretary Sandeep Wats had allegedly demanded bribe to clear the tender for Rs 7.30 crore. He said that on January 12, Wats demanded a bribe of Rs 7 lakh (1 per cent of Rs 7 crores project) for tender allotment on behalf of Popli. “Scared, he (Kumar) drew Rs 3.5 lakh from his bank account and handed it over to Sandeep Wats in a car at Sector-20, Chandigarh,” said the statement quoting a spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau. After receiving the amount Wats intimated Popli about the same and took Rs 50,000 for himself.
However, Kumar had refused to give the remaining Rs 3.5 lakh being demanded by Wats repeatedly. He had also made a video recording of the entire conversation and submitted it to the vigilance bureau, said the spokesperson. Based on the complainant’s statement and the video evidence, a case has been registered against Popli and Wats for allegedly demanding a bribe of one per cent for allotment of tender and receiving Rs 3.5 lakh as bribe money. PTI SUN RDT RDT
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