Ranchi, March 27 Two government employees were caught red-handed while accepting bribes in Jharkhand on Thursday during separate raids conducted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
In the Lohardaga district, registry office computer clerk Dilip Kumar was arrested while accepting Rs 5,000 from a raiyat (landowner). In Chatra district’s Itkhori block, employment servant Umesh Kumar was also caught taking Rs 5,000 as a bribe from a villager.
Alimuddin, a resident of the Bagdu police station area in Lohardaga, had lodged a complaint with the ACB, alleging that Dilip Kumar had demanded a bribe in exchange for processing his land lease. "When I refused to pay, he declined to process my work," Alimuddin stated.
After verifying the complaint, the ACB set up a trap. As soon as Alimuddin handed over the bribe at the registry office, officials apprehended Dilip Kumar on the spot.
In Chatra, an official Umesh Kumar, responsible for Nawada and Dhankheri panchayats in Itkhori, allegedly demanded Rs 26,000 from Vinod Singh, a villager, to process payment for fencing work under the MGNREGA scheme. Singh reported the matter to the Hazaribagh ACB Superintendent of Police.
As per the ACB's plan, Singh agreed to pay Rs 5,000 as the first installment. The transaction was set to take place at a shop in Itkhori market. When Umesh Kumar accepted the money, ACB officials arrested him on the spot.
In the past month alone, seven individuals have been apprehended in bribery cases by state and central investigative agencies.
On March 19, the CBI arrested Sahil Ratusaria, a garrison engineer in the Indian Defence Service of Engineers, while he was accepting a Rs 40,500 bribe from a contractor.
A subsequent raid at his residence led to the seizure of Rs 80 lakh in cash, jewelry worth Rs 50 lakh, and investment documents totalling over Rs 2 crore. Office cashier Philip Jalco was also arrested in connection with the case.
On March 18, the ACB caught Ranchi’s Tamar block supply officer, Abhijeet Chail, accepting a Rs 10,000 bribe from a PDS dealer.
On February 28, Sub-Inspector Rishikant, posted at Kotwali police station in Ranchi, was caught accepting Rs 5,000 inside the police station premises in exchange for releasing a confiscated mobile phone.
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