India, May 12 -- In a late-night operation, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the Punjab Vigilance Bureau office in Mohali, arresting several "middlemen" accused of collecting bribes on behalf of a senior officer, officials said.

The raid, conducted on Monday night (May 11), was part of an ongoing probe into a bribery allegation involving a transaction of approximately Rs. 20 lakh. The arrested intermediaries were reportedly under police protection provided by the Punjab government.

The CBI has also booked Sharad Satya Chauhan's personal reader on graft charges for allegedly facilitating the bribe to settle a pending case. The reader, who has worked with Chauhan for the past five to six years, has not yet been arrested. ...