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Top Rajasthan officer in trouble after PA walks into anti-corruption bureau’s trap
The accused confessed that he was demanding a bribe on behalf of Baran collector and disclosed that Rs 1 lakh of the bribe money was to be given to Singh.
Baran district collector Indra Singh has been put on awaited posting order (APO) after his personal assistant was caught red-handed allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 1.40 lakh on Singh’s behalf.
Director General (DG) of the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) Bhagwan Lal Soni said that a trap was laid after a complaint was filed against Mahaveer Nagar, Singh’s PA, for demanding a bribe of Rs 2.40 lakhs in lieu of giving a no-objection certificate (NOC) for establishing a petrol pump dealership.
Acting on the complaint, a special team was formed under the supervision of additional DG Dinesh MN, which was led by additional superintendent, Kota, ACB, Thakur Chandrasheel.
“After verifying the complaint, a trap was laid and Nagar was caught taking bribe of Rs 1.40 lakh cash,” said Soni.
He added that during preliminary questioning, the accused confessed that he was demanding a bribe on behalf of Singh. “Nagar confessed that out of Rs 1.40 lakhs recovered, he was supposed to give Rs one lakh to the Baran collector and the rest was his share,” said Bhagwan Lal Soni.
The ACB is raiding the house and office of the PA to collect more evidence, said Dinesh MN.
Kota ASP Chandrasheel said that the police are also questioning Singh and collecting evidence against him too. “During surveillance of Nagar, we found that Singh gave a silent nod to the deal which Nagar was settling with the complainant. He is being quizzed too,” he said.
When contacted for a reaction, Singh didn’t respond.
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In another significant development on Wednesday afternoon, the ACB had trapped its own officer while accepting a bribe of Rs 80,000. A district transport officer was also arrested for offering the bribe.
The trap was laid after the anti-graft body received information that its own officer, identified as Bherulal Meena, incharge of ACB’s Sawai Madhopur unit was taking monthly bribes from various departments.
“After receiving solid information, the team laid a trap and Meena was arrested from his office, taking the monthly bribe of Rs 80,000 from district transport officer Mahesh Chand. This money was given on a regular basis by the DTO to evade action against himself and his department,” said Soni.
Different ACB teams are raiding Meena’s properties. Earlier in February, more than two dozen officials of the transport department, who were part of an extortion ring, were busted by the bureau.
Multiple operations and raids were carried out at locations of seven transport officers and eight agents, from whom, an amount of Rs 1.20 crore in cash and documents for multiple properties worth crores of rupees have been seized.
