Four more govt officials held in 2 bribe cases; 6 govt officials held in Delhi this week

CBI arrested a junior engineer and a laborer in a bribery case involving demands for ₹80,000 to halt house demolition, amid a wider crackdown on corruption.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested a junior engineer and a beldar (labourer) of the Shahdara North zone of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in a bribery case, three days after the zone’s deputy commissioner and an administrative officer were arrested in an unrelated bribery case for demanding ₹4 lakh from suspended officials for fudging an inquiry report.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested a junior engineer and a beldar (labourer) of the Shahdara North zone of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). (Representative photo)

Officials said that in the current case, the beldar was charged on March 31 for allegedly demanding ₹80,000 from the complainant to stop demolition of their renovated house. The beldar was caught accepting ₹5,000 and demanding ₹70,000 for the accused junior engineer by the CBI.

“During further trap proceedings, the role of Junior Engineer, MCD, Shahdara North Zone, Delhi, also surfaced. The aforesaid accused persons have been arrested,” said the CBI in a press statement shared on X.

In another case on the same day, the CBI also arrested two officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in a graft case.

Officers said that a case was filed on March 30 against a monument attendant from the Jantar Mantar subcircle of the ASI for demanding a bribe of ₹3.5 lakh on behalf of a conservation assistant, to revoke a notice dated March 24 issued to the complainant and to allow them to continue their work.

“After negotiation, the accused Monument Attendant and Conservation Assistant agreed to accept the bribe amount of ₹3,10,000 and directed the complainant to deliver the bribe of ₹1,00,000 as part payment of the demanded bribe,” said the CBI.

The agency set a trap and caught the attendant red-handed on April 1.

Over the week, six government officials in the Capital have been arrested in charges of bribery.

On Tuesday, MCD Shahdara North zone deputy commissioner, Lt Col Abhishek Kumar Mishra, and an administrative officer, Divyanshu Gautam, were arrested. Gautam allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹4 lakh on behalf of Mishra from two suspended MCD employees for favouring them in an inquiry report. Mishra was suspended and replaced by Mamta Yadav as the deputy commissioner on Thursday.