The Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Friday arrested a Punjab Police inspector Jatinder Kumar and his private driver, Jaskaran Singh, while accepting a bribe of ₹50,000.

Jatinder Kumar was posted as the station house officer (SHO) at Phagwara city police station in Kapurthala district, while Jaskaran Singh, alias Jassa, belongs to Burj Hamira village in Moga district.

A VB spokesperson said that the arrests were made following a complaint by Kulwinder Kaur, a resident of Chachoki village near Phagwara. Kulwinder alleged that the SHO had been demanding hefty amounts as financial advance from her family.

In her complaint, she stated that a team of Phagwara city police station, led by SHO Jatinder Kumar, had detained her son, Harshdeep Singh, his wife Ashima, and his brother-in-law Ansh Sharma when they were dining at a restaurant in Phagwara in March. A Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) case was registered against her son at the Phagwara police station.

“Subsequently, the accused police personnel demanded ₹50,000 in exchange for not involving Harshdeep’s wife and brother-in-law in the case. The complainant paid the bribe under pressure. Later, SHO Jatinder Singh demanded another ₹50,000 to exclude Harshdeep’s mobile phone, worth ₹1.5 lakh, along with a gold ring and gold ear studs from the list of the case evidence. The complainant paid the bribe following which the items were returned,” the VB said.

The complainant alleged that the SHO continued to contact her, asking her to pay bills amounting to ₹40,000 for plants and pots that he had bought from a nursery. “The amount was paid by the complainant. The inspector then demanded ₹1 lakh in exchange for filing a ‘favourable challan’ in court and supporting her son during the trial. A settlement of ₹50,000 was agreed upon. The complaint was backed with evidence and phone recording,” the VB official said.

The VB team laid a trap during which inspector Jatinder Kumar and his accomplice, Jaskaran Singh, were caught accepting the bribe of ₹50,000 in the presence of two official witnesses near a private sugar mill in Phagwara on the Jalandhar-Ludhiana national highway.

A case has been registered at the VB police station, Jalandhar range, and investigation is underway.