E-Paper
Chandigarh councillor’s kin arrested from Mohali
The councillor had recently defected from AAP to the BJP; sister-in-law, who is posted as a clerk in Punjab sewer board, is accused of missing duty
The Sohana police have registered a case against a woman clerk employed on an outsourced basis with the Punjab water supply and sewerage board (PWSSB) for allegedly marking fake attendance and drawing a salary without attending duty.
The accused has been identified as Komal Sharma, a resident of Subhash Nagar, Manimajra, Chandigarh. She is the sister-in-law of Chandigarh ward no. 4 councillor Suman Sharma, who joined the BJP on December 25, last year.
According to the police, Komal worked as an outsourced clerk with the PWSSB and was posted at the camp office of the board’s chairman in Sector 76, Mohali. However, her attendance reports were submitted to the board’s head office in Sector 27, Chandigarh. It is alleged that for a considerable period, the employee did not report for duty but continued to submit regular attendance reports and received her salary.
The matter came to light when the attendance report for December 2025 was not received on time, prompting an internal inquiry. During the investigation, the chairman’s office clarified that the employee had been absent for a long time. Despite this, records revealed that her attendance was being marked and salary withdrawn.
Following the chairman’s directions, departmental records were scrutinised, and the matter was referred to the vigilance bureau, which forwarded the complaint to the senior superintendent of police (SSP), Mohali.
After a preliminary inquiry, the Sohana police registered a case against the accused under Section 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for fraud and misuse of government funds. The accused was produced before a duty magistrate on Sunday, and was sent on police remand. Police officials said that a detailed investigation is underway and relevant records are being examined.
BJP protests outside CM’s residence
The Chandigarh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organised a demonstration outside the Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence on Sunday to protest the arrest.
BJP leaders alleged that the AAP government in Punjab is misusing the police to carry out political vendettas. They claimed that Komal was ‘abducted’ by the Punjab Police as a means to pressure Suman, who recently defected from AAP to the BJP.
On this occasion, BJP Chandigarh state president Jitender Pal Malhotra, state vice presidents Devender Babla, Bharat Kumar, and Indira Singh, state general secretaries Ramvir Bhatti and Sanjeev Rana, mayor of Chandigarh Harpreet Kaur Babla, and media in-charge Ravi Rawat were present.
Addressing the protest, Malhotra said that since Suman joined the BJP, she has been pressured by the AAP government to return to her former party. He alleged that the FIR was registered late at night under government pressure and that the Punjab Police forcibly picked up the accused at 7 am without informing the local police station. He further claimed that other councillors, including ward no. 16 councillor Poonam, had also been threatened.
