Jalandhar, May 24: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Raman Arora has been remanded to five-day police custody following his arrest by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on charges of corruption. Arora, the MLA from Jalandhar Central, was taken into custody on May 23 after a probe revealed his alleged involvement in an extortion racket in collusion with Municipal Corporation officials.
According to the Vigilance Bureau, Arora and Assistant Town Planner (ATP) Sukhdev Vashisht conspired to issue illegal building notices to property owners, threatening them with sealing or demolition. The notices were allegedly used as a tool to solicit bribes in exchange for withdrawing or resolving the cases.
The arrest follows a joint complaint lodged on May 14, 2025, by the Engineers and Building Designer Association in Jalandhar. The complaint accused Vashisht of routinely demanding illegal payments and intimidating property owners. Based on this, the bureau registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and arrested Vashisht the same day.
Vashisht, who held additional charge as ATP in the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation while officially posted as a Senior Draftsman in Pathankot, was found in possession of hundreds of unauthorised construction notices, many of which were not officially recorded. Incriminating documents were also recovered during searches at his office and residence.
The investigation uncovered a systematic modus operandi involving the identification of unauthorised constructions, the issuance of unlawful notices, and the collection of bribes through political channels. So far, authorities have seized around 75–80 such notices connected to the alleged extortion scheme.
The Aam Aadmi Party, reacting to the arrest, stated that the action was based on credible inputs and reaffirmed its commitment to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s zero-tolerance policy against corruption in public service.
The Vigilance Bureau continues to examine related documents with assistance from technical teams, including those from the Local Bodies Department, as the probe into the alleged nexus deepens.
