The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) apprehended an Assistant Garrison Engineer from the Military Engineering Services in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. The engineer was caught for soliciting a bribe of Rs 93,000 and receiving a partial payment from an employee of a contractor firm. K.K. Soni, the accused engineer, was taken into custody by the CBI following a complaint lodged by the employee, who works as a supervisor in the contractor firm.
The Assistant Garrison Engineer allegedly demanded the bribe in exchange for approving bills from the complainant’s firm. A sum of Rs 40,000 was handed over to Soni by the complainant at his office on July 3. Subsequently, the engineer instructed the complainant to bring the remaining Rs 53,000 to his office on Saturday. The CBI set up a sting operation and apprehended the engineer red-handed while he was demanding the full amount of Rs 93,000 and accepting Rs 53,000 as part of the bribe.
The CBI recovered the initial bribe amount of Rs 40,000 from the engineer’s residence in the MES area of Manali. A search at his residence led to the discovery of approximately Rs 10 lakh in cash. Soni is scheduled to appear before the Special CBI Court in Shimla on July 5 for further legal proceedings.
In a separate incident, the CBI obtained a five-year rigorous imprisonment sentence for a former Punjab Police Head Constable in a Special CBI Court in Mohali. This ruling pertained to a 1991 case involving the abduction of an individual in Tarn Taran district. The convicted individual, Kashmir Singh, was also fined Rs 10,000 by the CBI Special Court. The CBI initiated the case on March 20, 2006, following a directive from the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in response to a Criminal Writ Petition filed by the victim’s wife.
