CBI arrests senior IPS officer, seizes Rs 5 crore cash, Mercedes, Audi, 1.5 kg jewellery, other assets

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer posted as Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Ropar Range in Punjab, on Thursday in a corruption case over an alleged demand for Rs 8 lakh but during the investigation found massive unexplained wealth, including Rs 5 crore in cash, luxury vehicles, jewellery and high-end watches. DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar, a 2009-batch IPS officer, was arrested along with a private individual, identified as Krishna, who allegedly acted as his middleman. The CBI said the officer was caught demanding and receiving bribes through this intermediary to “settle” a criminal case filed against a local businessman and had been soliciting recurring monthly payments.

The CBI had registered the case on Thursday after a written complaint was filed five days earlier by Akash Batta, a scrap dealer, in Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib.

The complainant said that DIG Bhullar had been threatening to implicate him in a fabricated case related to his business operations unless he paid Rs 8 lakh as an initial bribe, followed by monthly “settlement” payments.

CBI’s First Information Report (FIR) states that Bhullar demanded that the payments be routed through his associate Krishna. In one intercepted conversation, Krishna allegedly said, “The August payment was not paid, the September payment was not paid.”

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CBI lays trap, catches accused red-handed

After preliminary verification, the CBI laid a trap in Chandigarh’s Sector 21. During the operation, Krishna was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 8 lakh from the complainant on behalf of the DIG. Immediately after the cash handover, a controlled call was arranged between the complainant and the DIG, in which the officer acknowledged receipt of the payment and instructed both men to visit his office.

Acting on this evidence, the CBI team traced DIG Bhullar to his office in Mohali and formally arrested both accused.

Cash, jewellery, properties, luxury cars found

The CBI then conducted extensive searches at multiple premises linked to Bhullar in Ropar, Mohali, and Chandigarh, and recovered approximately Rs 5 crore in cash. 1.5 kg of gold and jewellery, documents relating to immovable properties across Punjab, keys of two luxury vehicles—a Mercedes and an Audi, 22 high-end wristwatches, locker keys and 40 litres of imported liquor, firearms and ammunition, including a double-barrel shotgun, a pistol, a revolver, and an airgun.

The CBI also recovered an additional Rs 21 lakh in cash from the residence of the alleged middleman, Krishna.

Bhullar and Krishna will be produced before a court on Friday. Further searches and investigations are ongoing.

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Bhullar, a 2009-batch IPS officer, has held several key postings, including DIG of the Patiala Range, Joint Director of the Vigilance Bureau, and Senior Superintendent of Police in Mohali, Sangrur, Khanna, Hoshiarpur, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Gurdaspur.

In 2021, Bhullar led a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that probed a high-profile drug trafficking case against Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia.

He is the son of former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) MS Bhullar.

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