On Saturday, Sanjay Popli – an arrested IAS officer over corruption charges, alleged that Vigilance Department murdered his son. Popli further claimed he is an eye-witness to the incident.
Punjab Police arrested Sanjay Popli on June 20 on alleged corruption charges. Popli allegedly demanded one per cent commission as a bribe of Rs 7 lakhs for clearance of tenders for laying sewage pipeline at Nawanshahr.
Punjab Police claims that Kartik Popli died of suicide. Meanwhile, his family claims that he was murdered. Kartik Popli was scummed to death due to his gunshot wounds.
Sanjay Popli said, “I am an eye-witness. They (police officials) are taking me…my son was shot by them.”
The mother of Kartik Popli stated, “They tortured my child and killed him. They tortured my domestic help for evidence. The entire vigilance bureau and the DSP are under the pressure from the chief minister. This is the way they are killing people.”
Moreover, Anu Preet Kular, a relative of Sanjay Popli, also alleged that “Vigilance people murdered him.”
“Vigilance team asked Sanjay Popli to sign on something otherwise it won’t be good for his son. They locked him in a room and took his son upstairs. We were standing downstairs, and after some time, we heard the sound of gunshots. The vigilance people murdered him.”
The incident comes days after Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested Popli and his accomplice over the corruption charges.
Punjab Police’s take
However, the police claim that Kartik Popli already shot himself with his father’s licensed pistol.
UT SSP – Kuldeep Chahal said, “The vigilance team had arrived (at IAS Sanjay Popli’s house) for an enquiry and heard a gunshot. After verification, they realised that his son had shot himself with his (Sanjay Popli’s) licensed gun. He was taken to a hospital.”
DSP – Ajay Kumar called the allegation “baseless.”
Kumar said, “It is a matter of investigation. But these allegations are baseless. We just went there to make a recovery of items. We didn’t even step inside the house. We only learnt about the incident later on.”
Furthermore, the Vigilance Department seized gold, among other items from Sanjay Popli’s residence on Saturday.
Vigilance Department statement read, “Four days after the arrest of India Administrative Service (IAS) office Sanjay Popli in corruption case, the Vigilance Bureau on Saturday recovered over 12 kg gold, 3 kg silver, four iPhones, one Samsung fold phone and two Samsung smartwatches from storeroom of his house at sector 11, Chandigarh.”
Punjab Police arrested Sunjay Popli’s accomplice – Sandeep Wats, from Jalandhar.
