Govt official held for accepting Rs 1.40 lakh bribe in Chg

A 57-year-old food department official was today arrestedby sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly accepting abribeof Rs 1.4 lakh in Rajnandgaon of Chhattisgarh.
"Assistant Food Officer Sanjay Dubey, posted at Rajnandgaon, was caught red-handed while acceptingbribeof Rs 1.40 lakh," a senior ACBofficialsaid.
Subhash Prasad Sao, who runs a hotel in Bhilai of Durg district, had complained that the officer was demanding a bribe from his brother-in-law Suraj Kumar for issuing the order of lifting the auctionedpublic distribution system(PDS) kerosene that was seized during a raid.
As per the complaint, recently a cache of 20,000 litres of illegally stocked subsidised kerosene belonging to PDS was seized from Dongargaon region of the district, he said.

Following directive of the collector, the kerosene was put up for auction and Suraj Kumar won the bidding for it, the official added.
The order for lifting the auctioned kerosene was to be released by the accused, who was acting as district food officer.

For the purpose, when Suraj contacted Dubey, he demanded a bribe of Rs 1.40 lakh against issuing the order, said the official.
After being apprised by the brother-in-law, Sao lodged a complaint with ACB.
The trap was laid and asthe accused received theamount he was apprehended.
Subsequently, ACB officials also conducted raids at the house of Dubey during which unaccounted cash of Rs 3 lakh was recovered, he said, adding that further investigation was on.