Two days ahead of no trust move, vigilance sleuths unearth horse trading, arrest 5

CHANDIGARH: In an unprecedented move, the

State Vigilance Bureau

on Monday arrested five persons, including three members of Zila Parishad of Fatehabad while accepting the bribe of Rs 3.5 lakh for not voting against the current chairperson

Geeta Rani

.


This is apparently first incident of its kind where Vigilance bureau has unearthed the horse trading ahead of no trust move.

Those members arrested by police included Surjeet Singh and Mandeep Kuar, rest include Mandeep Kaur’s husband T

T Kumar

,

Mahinder Singh

, a maternal uncle of councilor Kamla Bhukkal and one Mahender Kumar who was the middleman.

Entire operations were carried out by the team of Hisar unit of Vigilance bureau headed by additional SP Bali Singh. Singh has confirmed the arrests while adding that the accused are being interrogated for their involvement.

Notably, the entire operations were carried out two days ahead when Geeta Rani was faced with no confidence motion moved against her by members of Zila Parishad. The meeting was scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

Addl SP Bali Singh said that Geeta’s husband Krishan Chander had lodged the formal complaint with bureau as to how they were blackmailed and the members as well relatives had sought money to vote in their favor.

He said that accordingly three different teams were formed and the accused were arrested from three different hotels at different locations with bribe money.

`` We are on the look out for Kamla Bhukkal. Our teams are conducting raids to make her join the investigations are her maternal uncle has confessed the crime. We shall ascertain whether she was involved or not,’’ said Addl SP.

According to information, Surjeet Singh had demanded Rs 15 lakh, Mandeep Kaur and her husband had demanded Rs 9 lakh and the uncle of Kamla Bhukkal had demanded Rs 14 lakh. The three had been negotiating with the relatives of Krishan and Geeta since the time the Deputy Commissioner Fatehabd had fixed December 12 as the meeting of Zila Parishad Members for the discussion on No confidence motion moved against Geeta.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.