In a major development, a team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday conducted a raid at Jalandhar's regional passport office and arrested three officers in a bribery case. During the CBI raid at the Jalandhar Passport Office, Regional Passport Officer Anoop Singh was arrested. Along with Anup Singh, Jalandhar's Assistant Passport Officer Hari Om and Sanjay Srivastava have also been arrested. After arresting them, the CBI team reportedly left for Chandigarh. The CBI had reached Jalandhar from Chandigarh on Friday.
As per the information received, the CBI had registered a case against an Assistant Passport Officer of Jalandhar's Regional Passport Office on a complaint. It was alleged that the complainant had applied for new passports for her granddaughter and grandson. When the complainant met the accused APO to check the status of the said two passports, the accused allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 25,000/- for the issuance of the passports. It was further alleged that the accused informed the complainant that the bribe amount was accepted on the instructions of the RPO and another APO and the same was shared between them.
As a result, the CBI laid a trap and arrested the accused APO red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000. Subsequently, the RPO of the Regional Passport Office, Jalandhar, and another APO were also arrested. Searches were also conducted at the residential and office premises of the accused persons. Around Rs 20 lakh in cash (approximately) and incriminating documents were also seized.
The case is related to making more passports in less time by taking bribes. The raid was conducted not only at the passport office but also at Anoop Singh's house. As per reports, the officials were violating the guidelines issued by the Government of India by taking bribes. When a complaint regarding this reached CBI, three members of a team reached Jalandhar. The said raid was conducted to investigate these facts. Three officers were arrested around 4:30 pm.