Bihar Court Orders Arrest of Constable for Taking Rs 20 Bribe in a 34-Year-Old Case

The accused constable, who allegedly took the bribe from a woman vegetable vendor, skipped court summons for many years by giving a wrong address. The Saharsa court in Bihar eventually cancelled his bail and directed the DGP of Bihar to arrest the constable and order a detailed investigation into the issue.

Saharsa (Bihar):No matter how clever a criminal is, he cannot escape the long arm of the law. A case from Saharsa district of Bihar is a big example of this. About 34 years after the bribery offence case was filed, the special monitoring court of Saharsa has issued an order for the arrest of a constable accused of taking a bribe of Rs 20.

According to the complainant, Havildar Suresh Prasad had taken a bribe of Rs 20 from a woman selling vegetables on Saharsa railway platform on 6 May 1990. The then Saharsa Railway Station officer along with the police team arrested the accused havildar on 6 May 1990 while taking a bribe of Rs 20 from Sita Devi while on duty in uniform.

Did not come to court:At that time, the arrested havildar had given his address as Maheshkhunt in Saharsa though he lives in Bijoy village in Barhiya of the Lakhisarai district. After getting bail in the case, Suresh Singh never came to court. He had given a wrong address thinking that no one would be able to find him.

Arrest warrant issued in 1999:When he did not appear despite summons, the court cancelled his bail bond in 1999 and issued an arrest warrant. A confiscation order was also issued but he could not be traced anywhere. The arrest could not be executed. During the investigation of the service book, it was found out that the constable had got a fake address written.

Finally, the constable's secret was revealed and now Saharsa's special surveillance judge Sudesh Srivastava wrote a letter to the Bihar DGP and directed that the accused absconding constable be arrested and presented in the court. The order to arrest the accused havildar in the case of a bribe of Rs 20 after 34 years is seen as a strong message for the guilty. At the same time, many questions were raised on how the Rs-20 bribe case could be dragged on for so long and whether justice was given to the victim Sita Devi, a resident of Maheshkhunt Jhitkiya.