Officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s anti corruption unit, on Thursday, arrested Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Raj Khurana who holds a Cabinet rank in the state government as chief parliamentary secretary. Mr Khurana was held along with senior department of firms & societies official Devinder Singh after the two were officially “trapped” receiving a `1.5 crore bribe at the CPS’s official residence located within the high security ministerial complex in Chandigarh’s Sector 39.
The arrests came as further embarrassment for the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government which is still contending with the conviction of another C.P.S. Sohan Singh Thandal, who was sentenced to three years in prison in another corruption case.
After CBI officers spent all of Wednesday night searching Khurana’s and Devinder Singh’s homes, a spokesperson of the bureau revealed details of the case. “We received a complaint from the secretary of an association that Devinder Singh had demanded a bribe of `1.5crore to close an old case against the association.” Claiming he would have the case withdrawn using Khurana’s good offices, Devinder Singh told the complainant to deliver the payment in cash at the CPS’s residence on Wednesday evening, where unbeknownst to him the CBI had already laid a trap.
“Both Khurana and Devinder Singh have been formally arrested and charged under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and other relevant legal sections,” the bureau spokesperson said.