27 October, 2025 – Chandigarh : “One doesn’t need a corruption case by the CBI to state rampant corruption in Punjab. You simply have to look at the lifestyle of police officials, their houses, the interiors, the cars they drive and multiple phones they carry and how they are affording travels abroad,” a senior police official said anonymously when asked about the scale of corruption.
Another official, also seeking anonymity, described a “systematic monthly system” intertwining police, politicians and real estate agents. “Just look at the growth in real estate in Punjab where it seems drug money commissions are getting circulated,” he added.
The arrest of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Harcharan Singh Bhullar by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on October 17, 2025, has ripped open the veil over Punjab Police’s entrenched corruption. Bhullar, who oversaw the Ropar Range, was caught with an associate for demanding and accepting Rs 8-lakh bribe from a Mohali-based scrap dealer to settle a property dispute.
The CBI has unearthed property owned by him in Dubai and Canada also.
The sting, sparked by a recorded WhatsApp call where Bhullar haggled over the bribe amount, led to his immediate suspension by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who pledged zero tolerance.
CBI raids across Punjab and Chandigarh unearthed over Rs 7.5 crore in cash, 2 kg of gold, a Mercedes-Benz, luxury watches, and imported liquor, exposing a lifestyle far beyond a public servant’s means. A follow-up search at Bhullar’s residence on October 24 revealed more evidence, with five other senior officers now under scrutiny for possible benami properties and links to the scandal.
What makes Bhullar’s case pivotal is its potential to spark a broader crackdown. A police source revealed that a diary recovered from Bhullar contains names, transactions and networks linking officers to politicians and realtors, sending shockwaves through the department. This could unravel a decade-long web of graft tied to drug money and land deals, as the anonymous official hinted. Unlike past investigations that targeted lower ranks and fizzled out, this CBI probe aims at the top, offering a chance to dismantle the entrenched “monthly system” of kickbacks.
In early 2024, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Vavinder Mahajan, previously hailed for busting a pharmaceutical drug smuggling ring, turned fugitive after being booked for taking a Rs 45 lakh bribe from a suspect in the same case. Mahajan fled his Amritsar home before a raid, leaving evidence of regular “protection” payments from traffickers. The case, filed under anti-narcotics laws, exposed the hypocrisy of officers exploiting their roles in drug enforcement, prompting calls for systemic reforms.
In August 2024, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Nirdosh Kaur from Ludhiana’s Women’s Cell was arrested alongside her aide Beant Singh for demanding Rs 60,000 in bribes to resolve a matrimonial dispute. The complainant, a woman seeking help against domestic abuse, recorded the transactions, leading to their arrest. This case, occurring within a unit meant to protect women, highlighted how even specialized police exploited vulnerable citizens for petty gains.
Earlier in February 2024, two Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs) were caught in separate Vigilance Bureau traps. ASI Chattar Singh accepted Rs 10,000 to shield a woman from a false theft charge, while ASI Narata Ram took Rs 8,000 to release an impounded vehicle. These incidents exposed a pervasive “daily tax” culture where small favours came with a price, eroding public trust in grassroots policing.
In 2002, a major land scam probe implicated four officers—DSP Bhupinder Singh, Sub-Inspector Major Singh, and ASIs Rajbir Singh and Balbir Singh—for fabricating evidence and accepting Rs 50 lakh in bribes to bury FIRs for real estate developers. This early case foreshadowed the deep ties between police and Punjab’s property mafia, a thread that persists in Bhullar’s diary.
Fugitive Punjab cops on the run
The Bhullar case has drawn attention to Punjab Police’s absconders, whose escapes deepen the department’s crisis.
Raj Jit Singh (also referred to as Raj Jit Singh Hundal), a dismissed Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Punjab Police, is a prominent fugitive. His case centers on allegations of deep involvement in a drug smuggling racket, extortion, corruption and possession of disproportionate assets.
As per the FIR against him, he was involved in a nexus between corrupt police officials and drug mafias in Punjab, India, where officers allegedly framed innocent people in drug cases to extract bribes while protecting actual smugglers. The case gained prominence in 2023 following investigations by Special Investigation Teams (SITs) ordered by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Raj Jit Singh, a Punjab Police Service (PPS) officer, rose to the rank of AIG (Headquarters, Non-Resident Indians) in Chandigarh before his dismissal. His alleged accomplice, dismissed Inspector Inderjit Singh, was a key figure in executing the racket. As of October 2025, Raj Jit remains absconding, declared a proclaimed offender (PO) in multiple cases, with ongoing efforts to attach his family’s properties.
In July 2025, Inspector Arshpreet Kaur from Patiala’s cyber cell was declared a fugitive after fleeing a Rs 2 lakh bribery case. Accused of extorting money from cyber fraud victims under the pretext of aiding investigations, Kaur vanished after an arrest warrant, with reports suggesting political connections aided her escape. International alerts have been issued, but her case remains stalled, fuelling calls for asset seizures.
Another fugitive, former officer Bhupinder Singh, has evaded capture since 1993, declared a proclaimed offender in a 2023 CBI court verdict for a fake encounter killing. Singh and his team abducted and murdered three villagers in Amritsar, staging it as a militant clash. Believed to be hiding abroad, his case reflects a historical impunity that Bhullar’s diary might connect to modern corruption networks.
Punjab cops accused in drug smuggling scandals
The nexus between Punjab Police personnel and drug smuggling has grown alarmingly, with officers not just turning a blind eye, but actively facilitating trafficking for personal gain. These cases, often intertwined with bribery and asset hoarding, underscore how the force’s anti-narcotics efforts are undermined from within.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Vavinder Kumar Mahajan, once a key figure in the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), has been on the run since September 2024 after a raid on his Amritsar residence. Accused of accepting a Rs 45 lakh bribe from representatives of a Maharashtra-based pharmaceutical firm to shield them from prosecution in a massive NDPS case—involving the seizure of 1.98 crore Alprazolam tablets and 40 kg of raw material—Mahajan’s flight has triggered a high court-ordered CBI probe.
During the September 18 raid by the Special Task Force, investigators recovered a substantial stash of unaccounted cash from his home, though exact figures remain undisclosed amid ongoing inquiries. Mahajan, who claims he was framed for exposing larger rackets spanning multiple states, faces charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and NDPS provisions, with his accomplice from Lucknow also implicated.
In a stark example of rank-and-file involvement, former head constable Amandeep Kaur—dubbed the “Insta Queen” for her flashy social media reels—was arrested twice in 2025 and dismissed from service. On April 2, she was nabbed with 17.71 grams of heroin hidden in her Mahindra Thar SUV during a routine anti-drug check in Bathinda, leading to charges under the NDPS Act.
Just weeks later, on May 26, the Vigilance Bureau rearrested her for amassing wealth far beyond her Rs 1.08 crore earnings from 2018 to 2025, with expenditures totalling Rs 1.39 crore—a Rs 31 lakh shortfall flagged as disproportionate. Authorities froze assets worth Rs 1.35 crore, including a Rs 99 lakh house in Virat Nagar, an Rs 18 lakh plot in Dream City, the 2025 Thar (Rs 14 lakh), a 2023 Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle (Rs 1.7 lakh), a Rs 1 lakh Rolex watch, three smartphones (Rs 56,000), and over Rs 1 lakh in bank savings. Her opulent displays, from designer bags to gold jewellery, now fuel probes into deeper drug links and misuse of her uniform for evasion.
Former inspector Inderjit Singh’s October 24, 2024, arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) exposed a brazen protection racket tied to heroin smugglers. Singh allegedly provided safe passage and bail facilitation to traffickers in exchange for bribes, including forcing one family to transfer their Amritsar home after he seized 13 kg of heroin, Rs 60 lakh cash, and 19-20 tolas of gold from the accused—reporting only Rs 36 lakh while pocketing the rest and the gold. He extorted an additional Rs 39 lakh from the family of the slain smuggler Gurjit Singh.
The ED attached the transferred property—a house at No. 4, Max Colony, Chheharta—and a Rs 32.42 lakh fixed deposit. Raids uncovered further ill-gotten gains: Rs 16.5 lakh cash, £3,550 in foreign currency, a Toyota Innova and Mahindra Scorpio vehicles, arms and ammunition, plus 7 kg of heroin in total. Remanded to judicial custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Singh’s case highlights how mid-level officers siphon drug proceeds into personal empires, blending extortion with trafficking.
“Like all departments, police also has several honest officials, but the cases like Bhullar blot everyone. The department can help its image by launching its own crackdown and cleanse itself,” a mid-rank police official said wishing anonymity.
The Tribune