Punjab: Family Alleges Foul Play; Police Say Suicide; Arrested IAS Officer’s Son Dies from Bullet Wound

Sanjay Popli, an IAS officer, was detained earlier this week by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau for reportedly requesting a bribe in exchange for clearing bidding to install a sewage system in Nawanshahr.


Son of IAS official Sanjay Popli, who is now detained in a fraud case, died on Saturday from gunshot wounds; police claim he committed suicide, but his family claims foul play. Sanjay Popli, an IAS officer, was detained earlier this week by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in connection with a corruption case for reportedly seeking payment in exchange for approving bids to install a sewage system in Nawanshahr.

Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Singh Chahal of Chandigarh stated that after investigations, it was discovered that the 27-year-old "had shot himself." The SSP stated that more inquiries are ongoing and added that a legal handgun was used in the event.

A neighbor and family acquaintance informed reporters that a Vigilance team had visited the People's home as part of the case investigation and had been there when the incident occurred. Popli was detained by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on June 21 after he was accused of requesting a 1% commission as a bribe in exchange for the approval of bids to install a sewage pipeline in Nawanshahr.
"The Vigilance authorities were harassing us, and they were even torturing my domestic help to provide false statements in favor of the case they have lodged," an inconsolable Sanjay Popli's wife said to reporters. My son, 27, is no longer here. He was an excellent attorney. They have taken him ". My kid Kartik Popli was taken away to create a fake case, "asserted Sanjay Popli's wife pointing towards blood spots of his sons on her hands.

I desire justice. The mother wailed, "My kid has been slain," over and over. "I will move court," she screamed. Bhagwant Mann, the chief minister of Punjab, ought to respond, she added.

She said that a Vigilance team had visited their home and that her husband Sanjay was scheduled to appear in court. She said that "even our cell phones were seized" and that "the Vigilance guys took Kartik upstairs, and when I got there, they were mentally assaulting my son."

She claimed, "My son has passed away. Sanjay Popli, according to a 51-year-old woman who lives next door and is friends with the Popli family, "was being pressed by the Vigilance to accede to the claims leveled by them."