Unofficial aide to Punjab vigilance chief, absconding bribery accused had access to sensitive files—CBI

CBI made the revelation about accused staffer OP Rana in response to his anticipatory bail plea before Special CBI court in Chandigarh last week, which was junked Thursday.

The headquarters of Punjab Vigilance Bureau in Mohali |

New Delhi: In its probe into the corruption allegations involving a Punjab Vigilance Bureau official, the Central Bureau of Investigation has found that accused Om Prakash Singh Rana, was functioning as reader of the bureau chief without any official posting order. He had been appointed instead as a reader to IPS Sharad Satya Chauhan in July 2020, back when he was posted as the state’s Additional Director General of Police (Traffic).

The investigative agency made the revelation about Rana in response to his anticipatory bail application moved before a Special CBI court in Chandigarh last week, which was junked Thursday. Rana had allegedly escaped arrest by the CBI from a five-star hotel in Chandigarh, where he was allegedly present to collect a bribe of Rs 13 lakh and a high-end Samsung phone, earlier this month. He remains absconding.

ThePrint had previously reported that Rana had come under the scanner on the complaint of a Punjab tax official alleging that Rana had sought a bribe of Rs 20 lakh to close a case pending before his boss, Vigilance Bureau Chief Chauhan.

Three middlemen, including a father-son duo, were arrested earlier this month. Vikas alias Vicky Goyal and his son Raghav Goyal, and another person, Ankit Wadhwa, negotiated the bribe on behalf of Rana, according to CBI. Raghav Goyal is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Malout.

“The petitioner (Rana) was attached as Reader to ADGP/Traffic (Punjab) as per his office posting order dated 29.07.2020, but he continued to function as Reader to DGP/Vigilance Punjab in the absence of any such formal posting order and projected himself in such capacity. No subsequent order regarding his posting/attachment in the office of DGP (Vigilance) Punjab could be traced out so far,” Special CBI Judge Bhawna Jain observed, citing CBI’s response to Rana’s plea.

The agency further informed the court that Rana was suspended by the Punjab Police Monday. It maintained that the accused had access to sensitive and confidential files related to cases pending at the vigilance department and that he was allegedly in “continuous interaction” with senior functionaries there, which “prima facie reveals the sharing of confidential and sensitive information pertaining to vigilance complaints, inquiries and FIRs with private persons”.

CBI also reiterated its claim that Rana was present at the site of the trap proceedings where the agency sleuths had nabbed middleman Wadhwa, and that he, along with the Goyals, had then fled. The agency officials were then promptly alerted by the armed Punjab Police personnel deployed on the Goyals’ security detail, the agency had earlier claimed.

ThePrint attempted to reach IPS Chauhan via WhatsApp calls and texts for a comment. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.

(Edited by Mannat Chugh)