DW BUREAU / CHANDIGARH The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Friday said it has unearthed a scam at the Regional Transport Authority office in Sangrur and registered a case. The case has been registered against two senior officials of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), two clerks, two middlemen and some private agents. "In this scam, the involvement of RTA Sangrur, motor vehicle inspector, their clerical staff and private persons has come to light. "The erring officials used to collect bribes from various agents operating in the state for issuing fitness certificates to different types of vehicles without following prescribed rules of the state government," the Vigilance Bureau (VB) said in a statement. It said according to the preliminary investigation, the scam was going on since the last eight years and more than 2,000-2,500 vehicles were being issued fitness certificates every month, adding that the scam could run into crores of rupees. A spokesperson of the bureau said further investigation was under progress and the role of all officials posted in this office earlier would also be probed and strict action as per law would be initiated. He said as per rules of transport department, all commercial vehicles have to obtain fitness certificate from the RTA office in order to ply on roads, and all such vehicles along with their documents have to be physically inspected by the MVI (motor vehicle inspector) in his office. Revealing the modus operandi, the spokesperson said these officials in connivance with private agents and middlemen were blatantly issuing fitness certificates without any physical verification of vehicles for bribes ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,800 per vehicle, depending on the model of the vehicle. "In this way, the RTA and MVI were passing vehicles only on the basis of documents without physical inspections of vehicles that have to be parked at a specified place for inspection on the spot," he said. The spokesperson added that on the basis of complaints received in this regard, a vigilance bureau team conducted a surprise check in the office of MVI Sangrur that exposed the scam. (editor@dailyworld.in)