Punjab Vigilance for attaching ill-gotten wealth

"A proposal has also been sent to the government to issue directions to the concerned authorities for speedy disposal of corruption cases," Chief Director-cum-DGP Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, Suresh Arora said.

He said it has been noticed that earlier whistle-blowers were hesitant to lodge complaints to the Bureau against corrupt officials as they feared that the trap money would become case property in the court and be released only after the final verdict.

Keeping this in mind, the Vigilance Bureau has proposed to the state government to ensure early release of bribery amount offered during the trap from the designated court to the complaint on the CBI pattern. "This step would encourage the general public to come forward to complain against dishonest officials demanding bribery," he said in a release here.

Arora said that in order to curb the menace of corruption, the Bureau would adopt planned strategy during the current year which includes joint inspections with Chief Vigilance Officers of other departments and an effective outreach measure for inclusive participation of citizens and all stakeholders.

Arora also said that the Bureau has refined its procedures for investigations of cases by taking expertise of charted accountants, forensic experts, banking officials and taxation experts.

"The Bureau has also sent a request to the state government to create a new post of Joint Director (financial investigations) in the Bureau to depute a retired IRS/IA&AS cadre officer to crack financial wrongdoings in corruption cases," he added.