Rs 5 Cr Cash, Mercedes, 22 Luxury Watches: Punjab IPS Officer Caught In Massive Bribe Scandal
Senior Punjab IPS officer Harcharan Singh Bhullar was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case that has unearthed an astounding amount of unexplained wealth, including approximately Rs 5 crore in cash, luxury vehicles, and a collection of high-end watches. The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Ropar Range was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of ₹8 lakh, an act that triggered raids revealing assets wildly disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The CBI launched its operation after receiving a complaint from a scrap dealer in Fatehgarh Sahib, who alleged that DIG Bhullar was threatening to implicate him in a fabricated case unless he paid an initial bribe of ₹8 lakh, to be followed by regular monthly payments. To verify the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and caught Bhullar’s associate, Krishna, while he was accepting the ₹8 lakh payment on the DIG’s behalf. Following the handover, a controlled call was made to Bhullar, who allegedly acknowledged receipt of the money and asked the complainant and his associate to come to his office. The CBI team then traced the DIG to his Mohali office and arrested both men.
What followed the arrest was a series of stunning recoveries. During raids at premises linked to Bhullar, the CBI seized around Rs 5 crore in cash, with the counting still ongoing. The haul also included about 1.5 kg of jewellery, property documents, keys to a Mercedes and an Audi, 22 luxury watches, 40 litres of imported liquor, and several firearms. The sheer scale of the recovered assets has sent shockwaves through the state’s police force.
According to the CBI’s FIR, the complaint was filed five days before the arrest by scrap dealer Akash Batta, who detailed the DIG’s alleged extortion demands. The case, which began with an alleged demand for a relatively small bribe, has now blown the lid off a massive corruption scandal, putting a senior police officer at the center of a major investigation.
