New Delhi, 12 May (H.S.): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three accused in a ₹20‑lakh bribery case linked to the Punjab Vigilance Bureau. The operation has nabbed two middlemen and one associate, while the document‑handling officer at the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, OP Rana, remains on the run.

The CBI clarified that the case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by a Punjab State Tax Department officer, who alleged that Vikas alias Vikky Goyal and his son, Raghw Goyal, had demanded ₹20 lakh to get an ongoing complaint against him quashed. The two accused were reportedly acting as intermediaries for OP Rana, a reader attached to the office of the Director General (Vigilance), Punjab.

During the investigation, the alleged bribe demand was reportedly reduced from ₹20 lakh to ₹13 lakh, and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 mobile phone was also requisitioned for Rana. On May 11, the CBI laid a trap in Chandigarh and caught accused Ankhit Wadhva red‑handed while he was accepting the ₹13‑lakh cash and the mobile phone.

In the ensuing operation, Raghw Goyal, Vikas Goyal, and OP Rana fled the scene. The CBI team chased them and arrested both Goyals and two armed security personnel allegedly working with them near the Punjab‑Haryana border close to Ambala. However, Rana managed to escape and efforts to apprehend him are still ongoing.

The CBI said that searches at the accused persons’ residences yielded ₹9 lakh in cash and sensitive incriminating documents. The probe has also revealed that OP Rana and the private accused were allegedly exchanging confidential information regarding pending vigilance cases. The role of the Punjab police gunman, who was with the accused, is also under scrutiny. The arrested accused will be produced before a special court in Chandigarh.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar