₹20-lakh graft case: Bribe money was delivered to then Faridkot IG, says accused
A bribery case accused, Malkiat Dass, who wants to turn approver in return of being pardoned, alleged that ₹20 lakh bribe was delivered to then Faridkot inspector general of police (IGP) Pardeep Kumar Yadav by police personnel and later the IPS officer directly him asked to bring the remaining ₹15 lakh
Faridkot : A bribery case accused, Malkiat Dass, who wants to turn approver in return of being pardoned, alleged that ₹20 lakh bribe was delivered to then Faridkot inspector general of police (IGP) Pardeep Kumar Yadav by police personnel and later the IPS officer directly him asked to bring the remaining ₹15 lakh.
Dass, who is the head of a gaushala (cow shelter), had approached Faridkot special judge Rajiv Kalra agreeing to provide details regarding the payment of ₹20 lakh bribe made at his gaushala to two Punjab Police officers, who allegedly collected it for an IGP. Dass recorded his statement under Section 164 of the CrPC in the court of a special judge.
IG Yadav did not respond to calls despite repeated attempts.
In June, then Faridkot SP Gagnesh Kumar, then Faridkot DSP Sushil Kumar, sub-inspector (SI) Khem Chand Prashar, who was posted as in-charge of RTI branch of Faridkot IG office, Jaswinder Singh of Faridkot city and Malkiat Dass of Bir Sikhan Wala village in Faridkot were booked for taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh to renominate the prime accused in the murder case of Baba Dayal Das, the deputy head of Harka Das Dera at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot district.
On November 7, 2019, two shooters had killed Dayal Das. The Faridkot police named Jarnail Das, head of another dera branch at Kapurewala village in Moga, as the mastermind. The probe had found that Jarnail hatched the conspiracy to kill Dayal, but Punjab Police never arrested him and later gave him a clean chit. In April, Gagan Das, who is officiating as in-charge of the Dera since the death of Hari Das in May 2020, filed a complaint with the Punjab DGP alleging that police had wrongly declared prime accused Jarnail as innocent. He accused Faridkot police of taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh to re-nominate the prime accused in the murder case.
Following the complaint, a three-member SIT-led by DIG Ranjit Singh was constituted, which found that officers took the bribe. A corruption case was registered and the probe was handed over to the Punjab vigilance bureau.
Malkiat, in his statement, said SP Gagnesh Kumar and DSP Sushil Kumar approached him in November 2022. “They told me that Janrnail Das’s aide Sohan Das is offering ₹60 lakh bribe to declare Jarnail Das innocent. Claiming that the high court is strict, they asked me to connect them with Gagan Das so that they could demand ₹50 lakh bribe from him to name Jarnail Das as an accused. I called Gagan Das to my gaushala, where both the SP and the DSP told him that he has to give ₹50 lakh to the Faridkot IG otherwise he would implicate him in the murder case,” he said.
After threats of being implicated in the case, Gagan Das agreed to pay and a deal was struck at ₹35 lakh. “The DSP immediately called SP Gagnesh and later talked with the Faridkot IG. The DSP put the phone on speaker and the Faridkot IG said so now the deal is finalised for ₹35 lakh and get their work done. I recognise the IG’s voice as he regularly visits the gaushala to feed his cow. It was decided that ₹20 lakh would be paid in advance but Gagan Das managed to arrange ₹15 lakh, which was collected by the SP and the DSP from my gaushala. Later, Gagan Das borrowed ₹5 lakh from me and gave it to the cops,” he said.
“After few days, we got to know that the IG had formed a new SIT to investigate the case. Later, IG Yadav sent a message through his staff to meet him at his residence. When I went there, the IG asked me how much money Gagan Das had given to SP Gagnesh and DSP Sushil. I told him ₹20 lakh, then the IG asked me to bring the remaining ₹15 lakh from Gagan Das and deliver it to him after getting the notes changed from a bank. When I told this to Gagan Das, he refused to give more money claiming that the IG had not got anything done. Gagan Das told me he has moved a writ petition in the high court and later an inquiry was ordered under IG, Ferozepur range,” he added.
He said in January 2022, then Faridkot DIG Surjit Singh’s gunman Sharma had approached him, saying the inquiry in the murder case is under the DIG. “He asked me to convince Gagan Das to give ₹7 lakh bribe to get Jarnail Das arrested,” he said.
