Chandigarh home guard dismissed for taking bribe

Chandigarh Police on Wednesday dismissed a home guard and initiated probe against two traffic cops for allegedly seeking ₹500 bribe from a traffic violator near the Hallomajra light point.

This is second such dismissal within six days.

A police official privy to the matter said the incident came to light after a video circulated on social media showed home guard Sanjeev Rana, attached to traffic police, returning money to a couple while a traffic cop is seen hurling abuses at him.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that Rana had stopped a brother-sister duo for driving their SUV on the wrong side while coming from Hallomajra. He told them they would be challaned ₹2,000. However, instead of informing the traffic cops on duty, he took a bribe of ₹500 from them to let them off,” said the police official, requesting anonymity.

The entire act of returning the alleged bribe money was captured on camera and the matter was taken up with UT director general of police (DGP) Sanjay Baniwal.

After going through the video, the police authorities dismissed Rana while initiating probe against head constable Raj Kumar and constable Naresh, who were on duty with him.

On September 6, two traffic policemen — head constable Jagjinder Singh and constable Sachin —  were dismissed and later booked for allegedly asking for bribe from a car driver after he jumped the lights. The two had demanded ₹5,000, but settled for  ₹1,000.

In another incident the same day, senior superintendent of police (traffic) Shashank Anand had initiated an inquiry against three policemen for remaining mute spectators while students flouted traffic rules during student council elections at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College in Sector 26.