Graft: SP under lens after reader’s arrest

: The superintendent of police (investigation), Sewa Singh Malhi, here is under the scanner after his reader, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Gurinderjit Singh, was arrested by state vigilance bureau while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 on Friday. The reader had promised a clean chit to some people accused in a cheating case being probed by the SP.

The arrest was made in a trap by deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Tejinder Singh at the SSP office. The cheating case accused are Pardeep Sachdeva, his wife Neelam Sachdeva, and another man named Vikram Taneja, who had allegedly taken Rs 15 lakh from another person in the name of a cold store in November. Pardeep later filed a complaint with the local police for reinvestigation as he said they were wrongly framed.

Sources said the SP’s reader had struck a deal with Pardeep for ₹1.25 lakh, “and also told him about the share of money which goes to the SP”. On Friday, he was accepting the “first installment”. An official engaged in the graft investigation further said, on the condition of anonymity, “We will investigate whether the SP was aware of it or not.”

AIG (vigilance) Ashish Kapoor, when contacted, said, “We will first take remand the accused and probe how he had assured (Pardeep) of a clean chit.” SP Malhi said that he was not aware of “these activities” by the reader.