wiki/Biography
Sanjay Popli was born on Saturday 21 September 1963.age 59 years; by 2022), and he is from Amritsar, Punjab, India. His zodiac sign is Virgo. He did his schooling from St. Francis School, Amritsar. Thereafter, he did his graduation in Hindu College, Amritsar. He earned a master’s degree in English from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 10″
Hair Color: black
Eye Colour: black
family
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Casey Popley. Not much is known about his mother and siblings.
wife and children
Sanjay Popli is married to Shri Popli (or Shri Popli).
Sanjay Popli’s wife, Mr. Popley
His son, Karthik Popli, was preparing for the judicial services examination when he was shot dead during an anti-corruption raid on his house in Sector 11, Chandigarh, on 25 June 2022. He did his schooling from Yadavendra Public School, Chandigarh. He completed his graduation from DAV College, Chandigarh. Thereafter, he did a three-year law program at OP Jindal Global University, from which he graduated in 2019. He identified himself as a ‘Lawyer, Traveler and Selenophile’ on his social media accounts. His Instagram profile indicated that he loved to travel, liked dogs and had an interest in photography.
Sanjay Popli’s son, Kartik Popli
Know
House No. 520, Sector 11, Chandigarh
career
From July 1990 to May 1992, he served as Professor of English and American Literature at St. Bed’s College, Shimla.
civil Services
He was appointed to the Punjab Civil Service in 1992 after which he was posted as SDM in various districts. In 2008, he was promoted and inducted into the Indian Administrative Service against the vacancies from the state civil service quota of Punjab. Although Popli was consistently included in the combined eligibility list of vacancies for promotion to IAS from 2010 to 2013, he had to fight a legal battle to become an IAS. Reportedly, he was denied an integrity certificate by the then chief secretary. He filed a petition in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in 2016 to consider joining the Indian Administrative Service, claiming that the IAS branch of the Personnel Department, Government of Punjab, along with his ACR for the year 2007-08 tampered with and misrepresented. On 23 August 2017, he started his career as an IAS officer.
Post Held (Indian Administrative Service)
- Special Secretary – Social Security – Women and Child Dev (24 August 2017 to 15 July 2018)
- Special Secretary – Cooperation Department, Government of Punjab – Agriculture Marketing / Agriculture & Cooperation (from 16 July 2018 to 23 September 2019)
- Director – Sports and Youth – Youth Affairs and Sports (24 September 2019)
- CEO of Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board
- Appointed as Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities and Director of Pensions in May 2022
Indian Administrative Service
controversies
corruption charges
On 20 June 2022, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested IAS officer Sanjay Popli and his accomplice Sandeep Vats on corruption charges. Reportedly, the CEO of Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board Popli demanded one per cent commission from the contractor of Rs 7 crore sewerage project in Nawanshahr. A piece of video evidence was provided by whistleblower Sanjay Kumar, a contractor from Karnal, through an anti-corruption helpline. Kumar had used a pen camera to record Vats taking a bribe.
booked under Arms Act
Popley was booked under the Arms Act after his arrest in a bribery case on June 20, 2022. Vigilance Bureau officials found 73 bullets (41 of 7.65 bore, 30 of .22 bore and two of .32 bore) in his house during search.
Charges of extortion, false evidence and criminal conspiracy
Following his arrest on corruption charges, Popley was charged with extortion, false evidence and criminal conspiracy with an unidentified woman.
Vigilance Bureau accused of killing Karthik Popli
On June 25, 2022, his son Karthik Popli was shot dead at his house in Sector-11, Chandigarh, while the Punjab Vigilance team was searching the house over allegations of corruption against Sanjay Popli. While the family claimed that Karthik was shot dead by Vigilance Bureau officials, Chandigarh SSP Kuldeep Chahal said that Karthik had shot himself with his licensed gun. Although Karthik was immediately rushed to the hospital, he was declared brought dead on arrival. The Vigilance Bureau has seized 12 kg gold, 3 kg silver, four Apple iPhones, one Samsung Fold phone and two Samsung smartwatches from the store room of Popley House. 12 kg of gold consisted of nine gold bricks of 1 kg each, 49 gold biscuits and 12 gold coins. Besides three silver bricks, each weighing one kilogram and 18 silver coins, Rs 3.5 lakh in cash were also recovered.
Photograph of gold, cash and other valuables recovered from Chandigarh residence of IAS officer Sanjay Popli arrested by Punjab Vigilance team
Referring to the death of his son, Sanjay’s wife Shree told that the Vigilance team took Karthik to the first floor for questioning. He said,
They started pressurizing him… He didn’t let me go upstairs despite my request. I somehow managed to catch a glimpse from the ladder and saw that they had a gun for my son. I tried to go upstairs but stopped. Moments later, I heard gunshots. They killed my son.”
Facts / Trivia
- As the SDM of Jalalabad in 1997, he had a conflict with a police officer, which led to a face-off between the police and Popli. As a result, Sanjay was shifted from Jalalabad.
- Their Annual Confidential Report (ACR) for the year 2003-2004 contained adverse comments in which the General Assessment read,
He was found to be ‘running away’ from the sub-division headquarters, which an SDM cannot tolerate. Refusing to change his ways despite repeated advice/warnings. ,
- Passionate about cricket since childhood, he actively participates in various One Day cricket matches. He earned the title of best bowler in 2017 during a cricket match between the Governor of Punjab’s IAS XI and Haryana Governor’s IAS XI, which was held at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.
Sanjay Popli received the Best Bowler Award in 2017 for the cricket match between Punjab Governor’s IAS XI and Haryana Governor’s IAS XI
- He can speak four languages, Hindi, Punjabi, English and Urdu.
