5 crore cash and counting, Mercedes car, 22 expensive wristwatches, How CBI nabbed Punjab DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar for monthly ‘sewa-paani’ bribe

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a senior IPS officer from Punjab, DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar, in a corruption case that has uncovered huge amounts of unexplained wealth. The CBI officers reportedly found Rs 5 crore in cash, expensive cars, jewellery, and luxury watches during searches. Bhullar, a 2009-batch IPS officer posted as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Ropar Range, was arrested along with a man named Krishna, who allegedly worked as his middleman. According to the CBI, Bhullar used Krishna to collect bribes from people in exchange for settling criminal cases.

The investigation began after a scrap dealer named Akash Batta from Fatehgarh Sahib filed a complaint with the CBI. He said that DIG Bhullar had threatened to falsely implicate him in a case linked to his business unless he paid Rs 8 lakh as a bribe, followed by monthly payments to “keep the matter settled.”

After verifying the complaint, the CBI registered a case on Thursday and arrested both Bhullar and Krishna. Officials said the case has now expanded beyond the bribe demand, as the wealth found in Bhullar’s possession is far beyond his known income sources.

According to the CBI’s First Information Report (FIR), DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar had instructed that all bribe payments be made through his associate Krishna, who often pressured the complainant to pay on time. In one recorded phone call, Krishna was heard reminding the complainant, saying, “The August payment was not paid, the September payment was not paid.”

After verifying the complaint, the CBI organised a trap in Sector 21, Chandigarh. During the operation, Krishna was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 8 lakh from the complainant on behalf of the DIG. Soon after the money was handed over, officials arranged a controlled phone call between the complainant and DIG Bhullar. In that call, the officer allegedly confirmed receiving the money and told both men to come to his office.

Based on this direct evidence, the CBI team moved to Mohali, located the DIG in his office, and arrested both Bhullar and Krishna.

After the arrests, the CBI carried out large-scale searches at several properties linked to DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar in Ropar, Mohali, and Chandigarh.

During these raids, officials recovered a huge amount of cash and valuables, including:

• Around Rs 5 crore in cash (counting still underway)
• 1.5 kg of gold and jewellery
• Property documents from different parts of Punjab
• Keys to two luxury cars — a Mercedes and an Audi
• 22 expensive wristwatches
• Locker keys and about 40 litres of imported liquor
• Several firearms and ammunition, including a double-barrel gun, a pistol, a revolver, and an airgun
• From the house of Krishna, the alleged middleman, the CBI also found Rs 21 lakh in cash.

Officials said that both Bhullar and Krishna will be presented in court on Friday. More searches and investigations are ongoing to uncover the full scale of Bhullar’s assets and possible links to money laundering.