₹1.1-crore salary scam: Chandigarh Police name two more cops in supplementary challan

The Chandigarh police have submitted the fourth supplementary chargesheet in the ₹1.1-crore salary scam that had rocked the police department in 2020, naming two more police personnel.

A special investigation team (SIT) is investigating the scam of excess payments of ₹1.1 crore in the accounts of police officials.

The chargesheeet, submitted in the court of additional district and sessions judge on Tuesday against accused assistant sub-inspector Vinod Kumar and constable Rajbir Singh, cites sufficient evidence on record to prosecute them.

The ASI was then posted in the accounts branch and performing treasury duties, while the constable, also posted in the accounts branch, was tasked with preparing bills for salary, pay arrears, LTC leave encashment, etc.

The police report mentions that the public servants committed offence of public misconduct, causing loss to exchequer. “Being custodians of government funds, Balwinder Kumar, Naresh Kumar, Varinder Kumar, Vinod Kumar and Rajbir Singh in connivance with other officials siphoned off government funds for their personal use by tampering with office records...”

This is the fourth supplementary chargesheet against Balwinder Kumar, third against head constable (HC) Naresh Kumar and HC Varinder Kumar, and second against constable Savinder.

The challan has been submitted under Sections 201, 409, 467, 468, 471, 477A and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 13 (1) (b) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Police stated that new chargesheets and more supplementary chargesheets will be submitted as the investigation progresses.

An anonymous complaint had blown the lid off the scam in 2020. The complaint had spurred the checking of salaries of police personnel for December 2019 and excess deposits were discovered in 35 accounts.

The crime branch had then constituted a SIT, and a special audit for 2015 to 2020 was conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the request of the police department, which led to the discovery of excess payments amounting to ₹1.1 crore.

Following the revelation, a case was registered at the Sector-3 police station on February 25, 2020.

Investigations had revealed that the accused used to deposit money in the salary accounts of police personnel with fake entries of inflated conveyance allowances and ration/food allowances, among others. The accused would deposit the money under the understanding that the account holder will keep a part of it, while the rest was distributed among the accused. So far, eight accused have been arrested in the case.