Two days after brushing off her arrest with a smile and the words, “All is well… ups and downs keep happening in service,” Inspector Sunita Bawa, SHO of the Kot Ise Khan police station, chose silence on Wednesday when she was produced before the duty magistrate, who granted the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) one more day of her police remand.
Facing questions from mediapersons at the court, Bawa did not answer a single question. It was a sharp turnaround from the video clips that went viral soon after her arrest two days ago, in which she was seen smiling as reporters asked about her being caught red-handed.
“One must stay courageous and hope for the best,” she had said. The remark drew strong criticism on social media, with users questioning how a police officer could appear so unfazed while facing corruption charges.
Bawa and her gunman, Home Guard jawan Guravtar Singh, were arrested near Zira Road for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000. According to the Vigilance Bureau, the action followed a complaint by Rajwinder Singh, a resident of Nurpur Hakima.
A person had earlier been apprehended by the Kot Ise Khan police in a narcotics-related case. The complainant alleged that Bawa threatened to name him as a co-accused unless he paid Rs 1 lakh. He claimed Rs 50,000 had already been extracted and that she was pressing him for another Rs 50,000. Unwilling to yield, he approached the Ferozepur unit of the Vigilance Bureau.
A trap was laid by a team led by Vigilance Bureau Inspector Gaganpreet Kaur. Bawa and her gunman were nabbed in the presence of official witnesses while allegedly accepting the marked currency notes. A case has been registered under the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Vigilance Bureau has since widened its inquiry. Officials are examining the call detail records, deleted messages and digital payment transactions of both the SHO and her gunman to trace possible accomplices or middlemen.
Files of cases handled by her at various Moga police stations are being reopened to check for suspicious closures. The Vigilance Bureau is also verifying properties, plots, agricultural land, commercial real estate, bank accounts and lockers held in her name or in those of her family members.
Bawa joined the Punjab Police as a constable in 2011 and rose to sub-inspector and later SHO after clearing departmental examinations. The Vigilance has reportedly received several more complaints against her since the arrest, relating to alleged earlier bribery and harassment.
