HSVP junior engineer arrested for taking ₹3 lakh bribe in Faridabad

Officials said a bill of ₹3.46 crore for work completed by the firm had been cleared and the amount sanctioned for payment. However, Kumar allegedly demanded ₹7 lakh to facilitate the final disbursement

A junior engineer of the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) was arrested allegedly while accepting a ₹3 lakh bribe from an official of a private firm in Faridabad on Friday in exchange for facilitating the release of a ₹3.46-crore payment, Haryana’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials said.

Officials said a bill of ₹3.46 crore for work completed by the firm had been cleared and the amount sanctioned for payment. (Representative photo)

The accused, identified as Surender Kumar, 49, was posted in Faridabad. ACB officials said a private firm had been awarded a ₹10.5-crore contract to lay underground electricity feeder cables for domestic power supply in Sectors 76 and 78.

Officials said a bill of ₹3.46 crore for work completed by the firm had been cleared and the amount sanctioned for payment. However, Kumar allegedly demanded ₹7 lakh to facilitate the final disbursement.

Inspector Jaipal Singh of the ACB’s Gurugram range said the complainant and Kumar had agreed that the bribe would be paid in two instalments.

“The deal was finalised that the bribe will be paid in two parts of which ₹3 lakh was being paid by an official of the contracting firm when the junior engineer was arrested red-handed from HSVP office’s electrical wing in Faridabad’s Sector-12,” he said.

Based on the firm’s official’s complaint, an FIR was registered against Kumar at the ACB police station in Gurugram on Friday under Section 7 (offence relating to a public servant being bribed) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.