Chandigarh, May 12 (IANS) A CBI team has raided the Punjab Vigilance Bureau office in Mohali, near here, and detained its Director S.S. Chauhan’s reader over bribery charges of Rs 25 lakh.

The raid, which began late Monday evening, is still on, and the Vigilance office has been sealed.

Sources said the CBI first raided a five-star hotel in Chandigarh where Inspector O.P. Rana, reader to the vigilance chief, along with “middleman” Raghav Goel, were striking a deal with a complainant. The Rs 13 lakh in bribes has been seized. Goel, a resident of Muktsar’s Malout, was arrested, while Rana managed to escape, they said.

Akali leader and former Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia claimed on X that the central agency “recovered Rs 13 lakh from a vigilance official in a Rs 20 lakh bribery scandal”.

In another post, he wrote, “My source reveals that Vigilance DGP office has been sealed by the central agency after the raid. Vigilance chief’s is reportedly missing and currently his phone is switched off. It is being believed that the Vigilance chief may be on the run after the crackdown?”

Quoting sources, he said they revealed that a deal was struck at a five-star hotel through a middleman identified as Goel.

More explosive details expected soon. “Reader O.P. Rana of Vigilance chief, has reportedly been picked up by Central agency as probe intensifies into alleged bribery and corruption network,” he said, adding, “The Punjab Vigilance office has allegedly turned into a harassment den under @AAPPunjab government and Bhagwant Mann.”

Majithia further said the current raid is a follow-up of suspended Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Harcharan Singh Bhullar, a 2009-batch IPS officer, who was arrested by the CBI in October 2025 in the bribery scandal.

“Remember IPS Bhullar (Rs) 7.5 crore recovery, here comes a new feather in the cap of @BhagwantMann,” he wrote in another post on X. “Corruption in Punjab is now being exposed layer by layer from top to bottom. Bhagwant Mann has no moral right to continue as Chief Minister and Home Minister,” he said.

“Punjab deserves transparent governance, not fear, intimidation and corruption driven administration,” Majithia added.

–IANS

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