The Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its ongoing drive against corruption in the state has apprehended patwari Ankur Kataria posted at Patwarkhana Lohara and his aide Raja, red-handed accepting a bribe of ₹4,000.
Disclosing this here on Wednesday, an official spokesperson of the state VB said the accused has been arrested based on a complaint lodged by a resident of New Ram Nagar, Lohara of Ludhiana.
He stated that the complainant approached patwari Ankur Kataria to obtain a 30-year ownership record of her house, a document required to secure a bank loan. The accused patwari directed her to coordinate with an intermediary named Raja.
The agent, Raja, demanded an illegal gratification of ₹5,000 in exchange for providing the required revenue record of her house.
He accepted ₹1,000 on the spot as the first instalment, and thereafter agreed to take the remaining balance of bribe money of ₹4,000 at the delivery time of the 30-year revenue record of her house.
Unwilling to pay the illegal gratification, the complainant approached the Vigilance Bureau Range, Ludhiana.
{{/usCountry}}Unwilling to pay the illegal gratification, the complainant approached the Vigilance Bureau Range, Ludhiana.
{{/usCountry}}Acting on his complaint, the VB team laid a trap during which both accused patwari and his agent were arrested red-handed while accepting bribe money of ₹4,000 from the complainant in presence of two official witnesses.
In this regard, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused at Vigilance Bureau police station Ludhiana and further investigation into this case is under progress.