Former SSP evading arrest in assets case
PATIALA : Former senior superintendent of police (SSP) Surjit Singh Grewal has been evading arrest for over two months after the vigilance bureau (VB) booked him in disproportionate asset case.
The VB is not making any additional efforts to arrest Grewal even as the Punjab and Haryana high court had rejected his bail plea on January 22.
Acting on a complaint submitted by a US-based non-resident Indian (NRI) Sarabjit Singh to the VB chief director in 2015, the Patiala wing of the bureau conducted a detailed inquiry and registered an FIR on December 21 last, in which Grewal has been accused of indulging in corruption and misusing office during his service.
However, sources said Grewal was allowed to go in for all legal options available before him.
“After being denied interim bail by the high court, Grewal has approached the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the VB has started evaluating cost of his properties in Ludhiana district,” a source said.
SSP (VB) Jaspreet Singh Sidhu said the VB sleuths had conducted a raid at multiple places to arrest Grewal, who has gone underground since the registration of case. “We are probing the matter from all angles.”
VB REPORT
In its report, the VB found Grewal of possessing assets worth six times his known income and found him making benami (proxy) investments in property. He also purchased 5kg gold at Rs 1.5 crore and invested Rs 1 crore in a private company in the name of a relative, it is alleged.
He remained posted as SSP (vigilance) at Jalandhar and Ferozepur before being made SSP of Moga and then of Fazilka in 2012. He retired in 2014.
The VB claims to have found irregularities during scrutiny of Grewal’s property details of 15 years from April 1, 1999 to December 31, 2014. As per the FIR, the VB found that he had a net income of Rs 2.12 crore in 15 years, but purchased properties (moveable and immovable) worth Rs 12.19 crore in that period.
“Being a public servant with the Punjab Police, Grewal had completely misused his post and office and had spent way more than his income in the mentioned 15 years, while making illegal assets through corrupt means,” the report reads.
The case was registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the further investigation is on. The district court has already denied anticipatory bail to Grewal on January 4.