MOHALI: IAS officer Sanjay Popli, who has been arrested by the Punjab vigilance bureau for allegedly demanding a bribe in exchange for clearing tenders for laying sewerage pipeline in Nawanshahr, was produced in a local court which sent him on four-day police remand on Tuesday.
Popli’s alleged conduit, identified as his assistant secretary Sandeep Wats, has also been rounded up from Jalandhar. Both the arrests were made on Monday.
In his complaint, Sanjay Kumar of Karnal in Haryana, a government contractor with a firm under the name of Dikhadala Cooperative Society Limited, stated that Popli, during his posting as the chief executive officer at Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, in connivance with Wats had demanded 1% commission for clearing the tender for Rs 7.30 crore.
Kumar claimed that on January 12, 2022, he had received a call on his WhatsApp from Wats, demanding a bribe of Rs 7 lakh (1% of Rs 7 crores project) for tender allotment on behalf of Popli. He claimed that he withdrew Rs 3.5 lakh from his bank account and handed it over to Wats in a car at Sector-20, Chandigarh.
After receiving the amount, Wats had called Popli on his WhatsApp number to inform him about the money received and took Rs 50,000 for himself, Kumar claimed.
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.
An official spokesperson of the vigilance bureau said that based on the statement of Kumar and the video evidence submitted by him, a case has been registered against Sanjay Popli and Sandeep Wats for demanding a bribe of 1% for allotment of tender and receiving Rs 3.5 lakh as such.
