Ex-Punjab minister Sunder Sham Arora arrested for offering Rs 50 lakh bribe to official

New Delhi: Ex-Punjab minister and BJP leader Sunder Sham Arora has been arrested on Saturday (Oct 15) by the state vigilance bureau for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to one of its officers. He offered the money to clear his name in the inquiries against him, said a top official to PTI. The BJP leader was arrested in Zirakpur in Mohali right when he allegedly tried to bribe the Assistant Inspector General of the vigilance bureau. Arora quit the Congress this year to join the BJP. He had been facing several inquiries against him in a disproportionate assets case and alleged irregularities when he served as a minister during the Congress government in Punjab.

Sunder Sham Arora allegedly offered Rs 50 lakh as bribe

Varinder Kumar, chief director of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, on Sunday told reporters that Arora was arrested for allegedly offering Rs 50 lakh as a bribe to the vigilance officer to "help" him in these cases. Kumar said Arora allegedly contacted AIG Manmohan Kumar Sharma, who is supervising the inquiries, on October 14 and told him to help him clear his name in the inquiries.

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The former minister allegedly offered to pay Rs one crore for it, said Kumar. He offered to pay Rs 50 lakh as the first instalment and the remaining amount later, the chief director said. After Sharma brought it to the notice of his seniors, a case was registered and a trap was laid to arrest Arora.

Case filed under Prevention of Corruption Act

He was arrested when he tried to handover a bag containing Rs 50 lakh cash, Kumar said. A case under relevant section of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against him, said Kumar. Arora will be later in the day produced before a court in Mohali. He has been under vigilance scanner for the alleged irregularities in the allotment of industrial plots of the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation when he was the industries minister in the previous government.

Series of arrest in Punjab in corruption cases

Soon after the AAP formed government in Punjab, it had said that there would be zero tolerance towards corruption. Former minister Dharamsot, who was the forest minister in the Amarinder Singh-led government, was arrested in June in a corruption case. Ex-minister Sangat Singh Gilzian, who was the forest minister in the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government, was booked in the same corruption case. Former Food and Civil Supplies minister Ashu was arrested in August in an alleged food grain transportation scam.

(With PTI inputs)