Faridabad power utility official held over ₹30K bribe to clear contractor’s dues

The contractor alleged bills worth ₹4 lakh to ₹5 lakh had remained pending for nearly 14 months. A trap team recovered the cash during a raid at the office.

An executive engineer of a power transmission utility was arrested in Faridabad for allegedly accepting a ₹30,000 bribe from a contractor in exchange for clearing bills that had remained pending for nearly 14 months, ACB officials said on Wednesday.

The contractor alleged bills worth ₹4 lakh to ₹5 lakh had remained pending for nearly 14 months. A trap team recovered the cash during a raid at the office. (File photo)

The engineer was posted with the transmission system division at an office in Sector 23, Faridabad. A trap team led by DSP Surender Kinha reached the office around 4.30pm on Tuesday along with the complainant. After the contractor allegedly handed over the bribe and walked out of the engineer’s chamber, the team raided the office and recovered the cash from the accused, officials said.

Kinha said the raid and legal formalities concluded around 8pm, following which the engineer was arrested. “Based on the contractor’s complaint, an FIR under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered at the ACB police station in Faridabad on Tuesday,” he said.

According to ACB officials, the contractor had carried out civil construction and repair works at several power substations over the past two years. While one set of bills was cleared two months ago, another worth ₹4 lakh to ₹5 lakh had remained pending for nearly 14 months. Officials alleged the engineer demanded ₹30,000 to clear the outstanding payment. The contractor then approached the ACB with call recordings that prima facie established the alleged demand for a bribe. The engineer was produced before a Faridabad court on Wednesday and remanded to judicial custody.