A day after Punjab’s former Director-General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini had expressed apprehensions of his detention or arrest, Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday night arrested him in a corruption case and another FIR.
According to sources, Saini had reached the Vigilance Bureau office at about 8 p.m to join the investigation in a corruption case already registered against him. Saini, at that time, was accompanied by a lawyer. Saini was later arrested. The contents of the other FIR against Saini is not yet known.
Already, Saini has been claiming that the cases against him, including earlier cases related to sacrilege and police firing incidents, were an outcome of political vendetta.
Saini on Tuesday had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking directions to the investigating officer not to arrest him for “any other additional offences” in the corruption case against him.
Saini had also prayed for the issuance of directions to the investigating officer to seek the Court’s prior permission if he was sought to be arrested for “those additional offences”.
Saini’s counsel had submitted that the High Court had granted interim bail to the petitioner in FIR, dated August 2, under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with Section 109, and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Vigilance Bureau police station in Mohali Phase-I. He was directed to join investigation within a week.
The counsel had submitted there was reasonable apprehension of a definite nature that the vigilance was likely to detain or arrest the petitioner for additional offences at the time of his joining the investigation in compliance of the interim order. His plea was, however, dismissed as withdrawn by the High Court.