Vigilance nabs Ludhiana numberdar for seeking ₹5,000 bribe per month from sanitation worker

The complainant alleged in the complaint that the accused numberdar has demanded a monthly bribe of ₹5,000 to exempt him fully from his duties

Vigilance Bureau arrested numberdar Pankaj Kumar of the municipal corporation Zone A for allegedly demanding a bribe of ₹5,000 per month from a sanitation worker.

Vigilance arrested a Ludhiana numberdar for seeking ₹5,000 bribe per month from a sanitation worker. (HT File)

Vigilance said the complainant, Ashok Kumar, a resident of Mattewara, filed a complaint against the accused numberdar on the anti-corruption action Line. He alleged that he works as a safai sewak in the Prem Vihar area in the city, covering morning and evening shifts from 6 am to 11 am and from 2 pm to 5 pm.

He added that despite instructions specifying work within an 800-m radius, he was assigned a 2,400-m area.

The complainant further alleged in the complaint that the accused numberdar has demanded a monthly bribe of ₹5,000 to exempt him fully from his duties, which the complainant refused. Besides, Pankaj Kumar had allegedly demanded another ₹2,000 per month for exemption from duties in the afternoon shift.

A Vigilance spokesperson said the complainant recorded a conversation with Pankaj Kumar, during which the accused can purportedly be heard agreeing to accept ₹1,000 instead of ₹2,000 per month to exempt him from duties in the afternoon shift to lodge and attached it with the online complaint as evidence.

Following verification by a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) rank officer, the allegations were confirmed, the spokesperson revealed.

The accused has been arrested and will be produced in court on Friday. Further investigation in this case is underway.