By IANS
New Delhi/Chandigarh : Two senior Punjab police officials were Tuesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly colluding with politicians, businessmen and journalists to extort money from innocent people after threatening them of sexual abuse charges.
“Punjab’s Assistant Inspector General (Security) Devendra Singh Garcha and Ropar’s Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Paramvir Singh Sandhu were detained for questioning in the case and were later put under arrest in connection with the Moga sex scandal,” a CBI official told IANS.
“Garcha, an IPS officer, was then senior superintendent of police (SSP) and Sandhu was then superintendent of police (SP) of Moga when the scandal took place,” the official added.
The scandal was unearthed in November last year after the Moga police booked many people under the Immoral Trafficking Act and a rape case on the complaint of two girls.
In the next three months, a large number of people were named in the case, but most of them were given a clean chit after they allegedly bribed the police.
It was later alleged that the girls in connivance with the police officials extorted money from people.
The CBI team conducted searches at Garcha’s private residence in Jalandhar and the official accommodation in Delhi. Sandhu’s homes at Chandigarh and Ropar were also searched.
The official said, “Several documents were seized during the searches.”
The investigating agency had registered a case in the scandal following directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The names of several influential individuals, including Barjinder Singh, son of former minister and senior Akali Dal leader Tota Singh, had come up during the probe.
Earlier, a Punjab police sub-inspector surrendered before the investigating agency.
Two women and a police inspector, who were arrested last year, were released on bail.