ED Gets Suspended Punjab Police DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar’s 8-Day Custody in PMLA Case

Suspended Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General Harcharan Singh Bhullar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Friday in a money-laundering case, with a special court in Chandigarh sending him to eight days’ custodial remand under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED had sought 14 days of custody, but Special Judge Bhawna Jain allowed a shorter remand after hearing both sides.

Bhullar was taken into custody by the agency at 11:50 a.m. on Friday. The court has directed the ED to produce him again on October 17, after the remand period ends. Separately, he must also be produced physically before the court on October 12 in the pending CBI bribery case, where the complainant’s evidence is being recorded.

The ED’s action is part of a larger probe that began after Bhullar was first arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on October 16, 2025. The money-laundering case was registered by the ED on November 6, 2025, following the CBI arrest. The investigation is based on two FIRs filed by the anti-corruption branch in Chandigarh: one dated October 16, 2025, relating to an alleged bribery case involving Bhullar and middleman Krishanu Sharda, and another dated October 29, 2025, concerning disproportionate assets.

According to the CBI case, businessman Akash Batta of Mandi Gobindgarh accused Bhullar, then posted as DIG of the Ropar Range, of seeking illegal gratification through Sharda. The alleged demand was linked to favourable treatment in an FIR registered at Sirhind police station and to avoid coercive action against Batta’s scrap business. The CBI laid a trap on October 16, 2025, during which Sharda was allegedly caught accepting ₹5 lakh as part of the demanded amount. Bhullar was arrested the same day.

Searches carried out later at Bhullar’s Sector 40 residence in Chandigarh reportedly led to major recoveries, including about ₹7.5 crore in cash and nearly 2.5 kilograms of gold, along with luxury watches and vehicles. These seizures are part of the material being examined in the ongoing investigation.

In its submissions before the court, the ED said the alleged proceeds of crime include around ₹9.68 crore in cash and jewellery, bank deposits, luxury vehicles and about 129 acres of agricultural and urban properties in Patiala, Ludhiana, Mohali and New Chandigarh. The agency has said several of these assets are allegedly held in the names of family members or other persons acting as benamidars. It is examining how the assets were acquired and whether they are connected to suspected proceeds of corruption.

The ED also pointed out that it had carried out searches in April 2026 at 11 locations linked to Bhullar and his associates. Those searches reportedly led to the seizure or freezing of assets worth about ₹1.4 crore, along with the recovery of documents.

Seeking Bhullar’s custody, the ED’s special public prosecutor argued that interrogation in custody was necessary to trace the complete money trail, confront him with financial records and statements, and identify any broader network allegedly involved in generating, moving and concealing the proceeds of crime.

Bhullar’s counsel opposed the request, arguing that the ED had waited almost a year after registering its case, that the issues raised overlapped with the CBI matters, and that custody could interfere with his ability to assist his lawyers in the ongoing cross-examination of the complainant and a shadow witness in the bribery trial. The court, however, granted eight days of custody after hearing both sides.

Bhullar, a 2009-batch IPS officer of the Punjab cadre and a State Police Service promotee, was serving as DIG, Ropar Range, when the CBI arrested him. He has remained under suspension since then. The allegations against him remain under investigation and have not been judicially determined.