Punjab Cop With 50-Plus Properties, 7.5 Crore Cash, Luxury Cars And More

Crores in cash, mounds of gold jewellery, luxury watches, over immovable property and luxury cars --- a raid by the Central Bureau of Investigation at the home of senior Punjab police officer Harcharan Singh Bhullar revealed unexplained wealth that officials say point to an accumulation of years of illegal income.  

Bhullar was nailed following a complaint by a scrap dealer. He had apparently demanded a bribe of Rs 8 lakh. The senior police officer was arrested on Thursday, along with a middleman who was taking instructions from him. 

But the raid by the central agency in his Chandigarh home that followed was an eye-opener. Sources said the official found cash to the tune of Rs 7.5 crore, gold jewellery weighing around 2.5 kg, 26 luxury watches, including brands such as Rolex and Rado, 40 litres of foreign liquor and four firearms along with 100 live cartridges.

There were also documents pertaining to more than 50 immovable properties held in the names of family members and suspected benami entities and locker keys and details of multiple bank accounts.

Bhullar, a 2009-batch IPS officer, is the son of former Punjab DGP Mahal Singh Bhullar. His brother Kuldeep Singh Bhullar is a Congress worker.

After serving as the Senior Superintendent of Police of Mohali, Sangrur, Khanna, Hoshiarpur, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Gurdaspur, and the Deputy Inspector General of Patiala Range, he took charge Ropar Range, which includes the districts of Mohali, Rupnagar and Fatehgarh Sahib in November 2024.

He was also the Joint Director of the Vigilance Bureau in the previous government. He was also president of Gatka association and Gatka Federation of India.

In 2021, Bhullar led a Special Investigation Team that probed a high-profile drug trafficking case against Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia. He also served prominently in the Punjab government's anti-drug campaign, 'Yudh Nasheyan Virudh', launched to dismantle narcotics networks across the state.

But his investigation of Majithia had ended in controversy amid allegations of high-handedness.