Mohali, Aug. 14 -- The Special CBI Court in Mohali on Wednesday sentenced an intelligence bureau (IB) inspector to one year of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him of impersonating a CBI officer and extorting money from undertrials or threatening to implicate innocent people in false cases. The verdict was pronounced by special CBI judge Baljinder Singh Sra, who also imposed a fine of Rs.5,000 on the convict, Harpreet Singh alias HS Sandhu, according to CBI public prosecutor Anmol Narang. Harpreet Singh, who was posted in Moga at the time of the offence, has since been dismissed from service. The court, however, granted him bail to enable him to appeal before a higher court within 60 days of the conviction. According to Narang, the complainant had approached the CBI alleging that Harpreet, through his associate Vikas Bharti, was demanding Rs.70,000 to avoid arrest by the CBI. Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and caught Vikas red-handed while accepting the bribe on Harpreet's behalf. During the trial, charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act could not be proven against Harpreet. Vikas, who had already been declared a proclaimed offender in the case, remains absconding. The case was registered in July 2016, followed by the filing of a chargesheet in January 2017. Charges were framed in June 2019. htc...