Vijay Singla bribery case: 'Audio clip' of Rs 5 lakh deal did the duo in

Tribune News Service

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, May 24

An audio clip in which Vijay Singla and his OSD and nephew Pradeep Kumar are purportedly heard discussing the logistics of receiving Rs 5 lakh bribe from a Superintending Engineer landed them in police net. The audio recording was done on Monday in Singla’s office in the Secretariat.

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According to the FIR, Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh, posted at Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC), was approached by Pradeep, who told the former to meet the minister immediately in Punjab Bhawan’s Room No. 203.

During the meeting, the FIR says, the minister asked the SE to take instructions from Pradeep. Following that, Pradeep told the SE that the latter had allotted civil works worth Rs 41 crore and had paid Rs 17 crore in March to various contractors.

Pradeep demanded Rs 1.16 crore commission, saying that it was just 2% of the Rs 58-crore works allotted by the SE. Taken aback, Rajinder Singh said he couldn’t pay such a huge amount. But the minister insisted on having the commission. So, Pradeep made repeated calls between May 8 and May 23, asking the SE to give the money. The minister even threatened him that his career would be ruined if he did not fulfil the demand, the FIR stated.

Rajinder again expressed helplessness and on May 20 requested that he should be replaced with an engineer who could fulfil the demand. He was then asked to give Rs 10 lakh for the works he had executed in the past and 1% for any works he would carry out in the future.

The final deal was struck at Rs 5 lakh. Pradeep called the SE on May 23 (Monday) to the minister’s office in the Secretariat to discuss the logistics of receiving the money. In the recording, Singla is heard instructing Rajinder to hand over the money to his nephew Pradeep.

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