Chandigarh, Nov 2 (PTI) An assistant inspector general of the Punjab Police was booked along with two other people on the charge of blackmailing government employees and extorting money, a Vigilance Bureau spokesperson said on Thursday.

He said the AIG, posted in the Punjab Police's Human Rights Cell, used to initiate complaints against government employees and then demanded money in return for getting those dropped.

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AIG Sidhu and his two accomplices Kuldeep Singh and Balbir Singh were booked under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the spokesperson added.

He said it was found during an investigation that Sidhu had in some instances also posed as the inspector general of the Vigilance Bureau to blackmail his targets.

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In one of the cases, Sidhu, through his accomplice Balbir Singh, obtained the personal record of a block officer in the agriculture department at Guru Harsahai in Ferozepur district, the spokesperson said.

He lodged a fake complaint against the officer, accusing him of possessing a forged Scheduled Castes certificate and demanded Rs 3 lakh from him to drop it, the Vigilance Bureau official said.

The AG and Balbir Singh initially took Rs 1.5 lakh from the officer and then Rs 2 lakh to delay the inquiry against him, the spokesperson added.

Sidhu was arrested on October 25 on charges of deterring a public servant from discharging his duty and criminal intimidation in Mohali.

He was summoned for questioning in a vigilance inquiry regarding the alleged criminal misconduct and disproportionate assets matter.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)