Rajasthan ACB nabs municipal official accepting bribe

Three people including an Executive Officer of Ramganj Mandi Municipal Council were arrested by the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, for allegedly receiving bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a contractor in Kota district.

Kota: In a crackdown of corrupt officials, Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ABC) sleuths caught three people including an Executive Officer of Ramganj Mandi Municipal Council red-handed while accepting illegal gratification from a contractor on intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday in Kota district.

Sharing more details about the same, ACB inspector Vasudev Singh said, Pankaj Kumar Mangal, Executive Officer (EO), Municipal Council, Ramganj Mandi and two others were caught red-handed while accepting bribe from the complainant Akhilesh Garg (contractor) in the lieu of approving construction at a site.

Giving some insights into the case, Singh said that there is a plot in the name of Garg's wife near ASI company and a bribe of Rs 5 lakh had been demanded from him for approving house construction at the site. The bribe amount was settled at Rs 4 lakh following negotiations.

As per reports, an advance of Rs. 1.5 lakh was given by the contractor to the officials, following which the construction began at the site. Meanwhile, the officials kept threatening Garg in order to give the remaining bribery amount.

The contractor approached ACB on July 16 and lodged a complaint against the three officials following which the complainant's veracity was verified on Aug 5, said Singh.

After checking the authenticity of the Garg's complaint, ABC sleuths laid a trap and sent the complainant to meet the officials at Mangal's official residence with an amount of Rs 1 lakh.

Soon after Garg handed over the money to the Mangal, the ABC sleuths swooped on him and arrested him after recovering the money from his pocket.