A special court in Ludhiana has written to chief minister Bhagwant Mann seeking his intervention in the identification of police personnel allegedly seen accepting bribes in 28 video clips that form part of a long-pending corruption case. The move comes after the court expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of progress in identifying all the individuals appearing in the footage. The development assumes significance as the complainant has alleged that 28 police personnel were captured on camera during a sting operation, while only 11 officials have been booked so far.
In its observations, the court said the matter has been brought to the notice of the chief minister, who also holds the home affairs portfolio, to ensure that efforts are made to identify the police personnel in the videos.
The court observed that despite repeated opportunities and communications to the authorities, the police had failed to identify all the individuals appearing in the footage. It further noted that several communications had earlier been sent to the Punjab chief secretary seeking intervention in the matter, but no effective action had been taken by the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate. At the latest hearing, sub-inspector Amarjit Singh, SHO of Division Number 3 police station, appeared before the court and submitted that only members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) were authorised to make statements before the court.
The judge, however, observed that the SHO appeared to be avoiding his responsibility of informing the court whether the police were in a position to identify the personnel visible in the 28 video clips. The court further noted that on May 13, the SHO had sought a final opportunity in the matter, but no substantial progress had been reported since then. The case traces its origins to 2019-20, when lottery trader Subhash Ketty alleged that police personnel were openly accepting bribes from lottery sellers. Ketty had submitted video recordings to the then Ludhiana police commissioner Rakesh Agrawal, seeking action against the personnel allegedly seen in the footage. After no action was taken, Ketty approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, which subsequently led to the registration of an FIR in March 2020.
According to the complainant, the sting operation captured 28 police personnel allegedly accepting bribes. So far, 11 police officials have been booked and a chargesheet has been filed against 10 of them, while the identity of the remaining individuals seen in the videos continues to be at the centre of the legal proceedings. The case will be heard again on July 8.
