Punjab Vigilance Bureau Files Chargesheet Against Amit Rattan Kotfatta, his PA in Bribery Case
Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has submitted a chargesheet against Amit Rattan Kotfatta and his PA Rashim Garg. @AmitKotfatta was arrested in February for directing his personal assistant (PA) to take a Rs. 5 lakh bribe from the Sarpanch of village Ghuda.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Amit Rattan Kotfatta (42) and his personal assistant Rashim Garg were arrested by Punjab Vigilance Bureau in February in a bribery case. It was reported that the PA was caught red handed accepting a bribe of Rs. 4 lakh from the Sarpanch of village Ghuda for facilitating the release of a grant. This grant of Rs. 25 lakh was issued by the state government under the 15th Finance Commission during the year 2022-23 to Ghuda village.
At the time, it was revealed that the PA collected the bribe on the directions of Kotfatta, who had initially demanded for Rs. 5 lakh. The Sarpanch had already given the AAP official Rs. 50,000 as demanded by the PA.
Furthermore, Garg had taken a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh from Gurdas Singh of village Ghuda for getting him the Numberdari of his village. A Spokesperson for the Vigilance Bureau shared, “On the basis of findings of alleged bribes, the VB has added another section of 120-B of IPC in the said case and nominated the MLA Amit Ratan in the present case and thereafter arrested on 22 February from Shambhu. Both the accused are in judicial custody and in jail. Further investigation of this case was under progress.”
On February 16, Garg was arrested red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs. 4 lakh. Kotfatta was then arrested on February 20 after some investigation.
Vineet Washington