A case has been filed against the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Malwinder Singh Sidhu and his two associates for alleged extortion and bribery. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has registered this case against them. The complaint accuses them of misusing their positions, cheating government employees, engaging in blackmail, extortion, and accepting bribes. The spokesperson for the bureau revealed that AIG Siddhu used to file complaints against government employees, but he would retract them by resorting to blackmail and illegal means. Based on the vigilance investigation, they have filed a case against the accused under anti-corruption laws on October 30th at the Vigilance Bureau, Flying Squad-1 Punjab, Mohali. It was discovered during the investigation that Siddhu, who had been serving in the Human Rights Cell, Punjab Police, posed as AIG Vigilance Bureau for the past five years without working on those positions.
Furthermore, he is accused of misusing a government vehicle, with fuel and other expenses charged to government accounts. The records for the use of this vehicle (logbook) were not maintained, which indicated the misuse of government property. Additionally, during the inquiry, it was revealed that Siddhu falsely identified himself as AIG Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, to a data operator working in the office of the Block Primary Education Officer in Rajpura. Siddhu used this false identity to obtain a photo copy of a government teacher’s service book and took photos of its initial pages with his mobile phone.
Siddhu also tried to obtain signatures on two proforma from the principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Ghanaur, besides lodging a written complaint using the school’s email ID against the accused Kuldeep Singh. He attempted to obtain signatures on two proforma from the principal, but the principal refused to sign them.
In another case, Siddhu obtained the private records of a Block Officer, despite objections by the related officer. Afterward, he filed a complaint against the officer for holding a fake Scheduled Caste certificate. Instead of withdrawing this complaint, Siddhu demanded three lakhs from the officer, out of which one and a half lakh were received illegally by Balbir Singh and Malvinder Singh Siddhu.
It is alleged that Siddhu, along with Balbir Singh, met various individuals in Scheduled Castes and Freedom Fighters’ categories, obtaining their records, and later blackmailed them. They coerced these individuals to pay bribes in exchange for withdrawing their complaints. It is suspected that during this investigation, Siddhu and his associates may become embroiled in further issues. An in-depth investigation is ongoing in this case.