Ludhiana, Jan. 31 -- The vigilance bureau on Friday arrested the senior medical officer (SMO) of the government hospital at Sidhwan Bet and her assistant clerk for allegedly running a bribery racket in the name of audit clearance.

The arrested SMO has been identified as Harkirat Gill, while the clerk is Satvinder Singh.

Official sources said the duo was allegedly extorting money from employees posted at dispensaries functioning under the Sidhwan Bet hospital.

Investigations revealed that nearly 125 employees working at around 25 dispensaries were allegedly being forced to pay bribes under the pretext of audit clearance. Fed up with the illegal demands, a staff member reportedly approached Balkar Singh, husband of the village sarpanch, ...