CBI arrests Chandigarh passport official in bribery case

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an Assistant Superintendent of Chandigarh Regional Passport Office and a private person in a bribery case of Rs 30,000.

The two people arrested are Rajiv Khetarpal, Assistant Superintendent, Regional Passport Office, Chandigarh and a man named Balwinder Singh.

"The CBI has registered a case under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, (amended in 2018) on a complaint against the accused (a private person), posing himself as an official of the Regional Passport Office, Sector-34, Chandigarh," read a statement.

The complainant had alleged that he had submitted an application through online portal on January 27 this year for renewal of his passport and the accused demanded a bribe of Rs 25,000-30,000 for renewal of his passport. The complainant further alleged that the accused threatened him to delay/reject his case of renewal of passport if the bribe was not paid, the statement added.

"Thereafter, the CBI laid a trap and caught the private person red handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000. The accused said that the bribe money was allegedly to be shared with the Assistant Superintendent, Regional Passport Office, Chandigarh and also informed the public servant on phone regarding receipt of the bribe. During investigation, the public servant was also arrested. Search was conducted at the residential premises of the public servant at Mohali," it added.