CBI arrests 2 postal department officers for demanding Rs 100 bribe

Two postal officers were arrested by the CBI for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 100 as "suvidha shulk" (service charge) from villagers, who came to deposit their savings in postal department schemes, officials said Monday.

The two postal officers had allegedly sought a bribe of Rs 100 on every Rs 20,000 deposit in the postal department savings schemes in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district, they said.

The matter came to light after the husband of a commission agent lodged a complaint that Superintendent Santosh Kumar Saroj and Postal Assistant Suraj Mishra had sought a bribe of Rs 100 on every Rs 20,000 deposit, the officials said.

They had also threatened him to stop his work and create disturbances if the demand was not met, the officials said.

The complainant said that his wife collects postal savings from villagers and deposits them in sub-post office in Kunda, Pratapgarh, and he helps her in the work.

The complainant alleged that the postal officer duo had earlier taken Rs 500 and Rs 300 on November 25 and November 26 when he had gone to make deposits in the name of "suvidha shulk" for which he had made an entry in spite of opposition from Saroj and Mishra.

Based on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and caught him red-handed taking the bribe, they said.

"The CBI had to intervene in a public complaint where poor rural people were made to pay bribes to deposit their own money in post offices. The modus was impacting several villages in the area," CBI spokesperson said in a statement here.