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The Punjab Vigilance Bureau informed on Friday that it had arrested an absconder, identified as Pankaj Malhotra, after he surrendered in Ludhiana.
The absconder was wanted for allegedly receiving bribes in lieu of allotting tenders for labour and transportation works. The vigilance bureau informed through a statement that the accused was the personal assistant for former state Food and Civil Supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu. He turned himself in at the office of the bureau in Ludhiana, it informed. A spokesperson for the bureau further informed Telu Ram, a contractor; Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Krishan Lal Dhotiwala and Anil Jain (both commission agents) have already been arrested in the tender allotment case and are in judicial custody. The bureau said it has already submitted a supplementary chargesheet against Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Telu Ram and Krishan Lal before a Ludhiana court. The spokesperson further informed that during the probe and through examination of the material evidence in the case, it came to light that the accused, Pankaj Malhotra, was working as PA for the former minister. He received bribe of Rs 6 lakh from Telu Ram in lieu of arranging a meeting with the former minister for allotment of tenders for labour and transportation works in the grain markers for 2020-21, the bureau claimed. Sharing details about the arrest, the bureau said it had registered a case -- FIR No. 11 dated August 16, under sections 420, 409, 467, 468, 471, 120-B of the Indian penal Code (IPC) and sections 7, 8, 12, 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act. The case was registered against Telu Ram; Jagroop Singh and Sandeep Bhatia, owners/partners of Gurdas Ram; officers of Punjab's Food and Civil Supplies department and officials/employees of the procurement agencies concerned for allocation of labour and transportation tenders in various grain markets. He will produced before the court on Saturday, the bureau further informed. The bureau, in its release, said the accused was under pressure as he feared that the court could declare him a proclaimed offender (PO) in the alleged tender allotment scam. It added that it has already initiated legal proceedings against him and another accused, Inderjit Singh alias Indi, a personal assistant of the former minister. Further investigation is underway in the matter. (ANI)
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