Chandigarh, May 1 – The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Thursday arrested Ajit Pal Singh Saini, General Manager of (Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited) PUNSUP, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh.
Saini, who also holds additional charges including Procurement, Storage, Commercial, Construction, and Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), was apprehended red-handed during a trap operation in Mohali.
According to an official spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau, the action followed a complaint from a commission agent based in the Ferozepur district.
The complainant alleged that Saini demanded a bribe as a settlement in connection with an earlier penalty related to a bogus paddy purchase case.
The case pertains to the 2024 paddy procurement season, during which approximately 34,250 paddy bags were found missing during a physical verification at rice mills.
“The complainant’s firm, which operates as a commission agent at Shahzadi and Mana Singh Wala Mandis, was held accountable and directed to deposit Rs 2.97 crore. Of that amount, the complainant had already paid Rs 2.50 crore to PUNSUP.”
Subsequently, the complainant submitted a representation to the PUNSUP Managing Director, claiming that gate passes for nearly 19,040 paddy bags were later deleted from the procurement portal by the District Manager and inspectors of PUNSUP, Ferozepur.
He argued that he had been wrongly penalized for these bags.
The spokesperson noted that Saini, through an intermediary identified as Kanwal Deep, allegedly approached the complainant demanding Rs 2 lakh to “settle” the issue.
Moreover, the complainant recorded a conversation in which Saini is heard demanding Rs 2 lakh, later negotiated to Rs 1 lakh.
“After verifying the complaint, a trap was laid, and the accused was caught while receiving Rs 1 lakh in the parking area of Max Hospital, Phase 6, Mohali,” the VB spokesperson said.
“The bribe money was recovered on the spot, and the official car used by the accused was also taken into possession.”
The VB has registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act at its Flying Squad-1 police station in Mohali.
Saini will be presented before a competent court, and further investigation is ongoing.
Earlier in the same case, the District Manager and two inspectors of PUNSUP in Ferozepur were suspended.
