Punjab Vigilance Bureau caught 187 bribers in 2025, filed 113 cases, secured 63 convictions, and promoted integrity across departments.

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) used a multifaceted strategy to corner bribe seekers and raise public awareness of this social ill in an effort to eradicate corruption from society. In various situations, the VB has caught 187 people red-handed accepting bribes throughout that time. Actions speak louder than words, as this illustrates for the Punjab government.

An official spokeswoman for the Vigilance Bureau made this announcement today, stating that in 127 trap incidents in 2025, the VB was able to apprehend 43 private individuals and 144 officials from various departments who had accepted bribes. From January 1 to December 31, 2025, the Bureau apprehended 126 non-gazetted officials (NGOs) and 18 gazetted officers (GOs) as part of its zero tolerance policy against all forms of corruption.

In addition to other departments, he disclosed that 43 Punjab Police officers, 20 Revenue Department employees, 21 Power Department employees, 14 Panchayats and Rural Development employees, 9 Transport Department employees, 8 Local Bodies employees, 5 Forest Department employees, 5 Health Department employees, and 3 Mandi Board employees were caught accepting bribes in separate cases during the year. Additionally, the VB has detained two workers in graft cases from the departments of education, cooperation, food and civil supplies, and personnel.

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He went on to provide more information about the Bureau’s performance, stating that the VB has filed 113 criminal cases against the accused, including 118 private individuals, 98 NGOs, and 17 GOs. In addition, 38 Vigilance Enquiries were filed to look into allegations of corruption against 15 private individuals, 20 NGOs, and 17 GOs. Ten complaints of disproportionate assets were also filed against two private individuals, five NGOs, and four GOs.

Additionally, six non-gazetted officers were fired by their respective administrative offices after being found guilty in VB instances by the relevant courts. He also disclosed that during the course of the year, the Bureau had successfully completed 65 Vigilance Enquiries.

He provided details, stating that in 34 cases brought and fought by the Bureau under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 63 accused—including 3 GOs, 38 NGOs, and 22 private individuals—were convicted by various competent courts to one- to five-year prison terms. In these cases, the courts have also levied fines ranging from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 2,01,000, totaling Rs. 18,71,000, he added.

During Vigilance Awareness Week, the VB successfully carried out awareness campaigns. To eradicate corruption from society, public meetings and seminars were held in both urban and rural areas, and all bureau officers and staff were given integrity pledges,” he continued. In the past year, VB received 6158 complaints, 363 of which came through the Anti-Corruption helpline.

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The former Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, MLA Raman Arora, IPS officer Harcharan Singh Bhullar, Assistant Commissioner CGST Ravinder Kumar Sharma from Jalandhar, PCS officer Vikramjeet Singh Panthey from Batala, PCS officer Gurbeer Singh Kohli from Ludhiana, PCS officer Ravinder Kumar Bansal from SBS Nagar, General Manager Punsup Ajitpal Singh Saini, Deputy Chief Engineer of PSPCL Harminder Singh, Sub-Registrar Jagtar Singh, Tehsildar Ram Lal, S.M.O. Sumit Singh, DSP Gursher Singh, and Dr. Amit Singla Civil Hospital Sunam have all been charged with corruption in the past year.

Additionally, during the past year, Amarjeet Singh, a Forest Range Officer in Hoshiarpur, Narinderpal Singh, an Executive Engineer, Assistant Town Planner Sukhdev Visisht, ATP Jaspal Singh, ATP Gurpreet Singh, ATP Raj Kumar, and ATP Charanjeet Singh, all BDPOs, were arrested or booked. These individuals included Parmjeet Singh, Dhanvant Singh, Kulwant Singh, Lakhbeer Singh, and Hardiyal Singh, all of whom were posted to Fazilka, SAS Nagar, Amritsar, and Kapurthala, respectively.