Passport official, middleman held for taking ₹30,000 bribe in Chandigarh

A passport official along with a middleman have been arrested for allegedly taking ₹30,000 bribe from an applicant, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Tuesday.

The suspects have been identified as Rajiv Khetarpal, who is posted as an assistant superintendent at the regional passport office, Chandigarh, and Balinder Singh of Nayagaon. They were arrested on Monday evening, and sent to judicial custody on Tuesday.

Complainant Jagdeep Singh of Sangrur had filed an online application for passport renewal on January 27.

On Monday, Balinder Singh, posing as a passport officer, allegedly called Jagdeep and threatened him that his “case will be delayed infinitely if bribe is not paid”. He was asked to reach the passport office in Sector 34 by 2pm, states the FIR. CBI investigations revealed that Balinder was seeking bribe on behalf of Khetarpal.

As Jagdeep was running late, he again got a call from Balinder asking him about his whereabouts. Jagdeep replied that he would reach there around 4pm, upon which Balinder said he would be at the office till 6pm. Meanwhile, the CBI was informed and a trap was laid.

It was at 6:45pm that Balinder was arrested red-handed while accepting the bribe.

The CBI team then made Balinder call Khetarpal to inform him about the collected money. In response to this, Khetarpal directed Balinder to hand over the money in his office around noon the next day, states the FIR.

Khetarpal was arrested around 9:30pm. Searches were also conducted at his house in Mohali.

The two were booked under Section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. They were produced in the special CBI court on Tuesday, which sent the to judicial remand.