Punjab VB arrests IAS officer in bribery case

The 2008-batch IAS officer was arrested in a bribery case pertaining to allotment of tenders when he was posted as the chief executive officer of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Monday arrested director, pensions, Sanjay Popli in a corruption case.

The 2008-batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer was arrested in a bribery case pertaining to allotment of tenders when he was posted as the chief executive officer of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board. Sandeep Wats, who was posted as the assistant secretary in the board, has also been arrested.

According to the VB, the arrest was made on the basis of a complaint filed by a Karnal-based government contractor, Sanjay Kumar, against Popli and Wats, accusing them of demanding a 1% kickback for clearance of bills for tenders allotted for laying a sewerage pipeline at Nawanshahr.

Kumar alleged that after he was allotted the tender for ₹7.3 crore, he received a call from Wats on January 13, 2022, stating that Popli had demanded a bribe of ₹7 lakh. Kumar alleged that he withdrew ₹3.5 lakh from his bank account and handed it over to Wats in a car at Sector 20, Chandigarh. Wats called Popli to inform him about the payment and even took a ₹5,000 cut for himself, it was alleged in the complaint.