Official caught by Vigilance department while accepting bribe

The Vigilance department Thursday arrested a state government official here while accepting a bribe of Rs 55,000 at his official residence, an official release said.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Gopal Paswan, who headed the vigilance team, Mohd Shah Alam, posted as a Circle Officer in Nirmali, was arrested while accepting the bribe from complainant Mohd Khalid.

Khalid had complained to the vigilance department that he belonged to Madhubani district but owned a piece of land falling in Alam's jurisdiction here and the CO had demanded Rs 1.5 lakh for getting the same vacated, Paswan said.

Subsequently, a trap was laid down as part of which Khalid convinced Alam to accept Rs 55,000 as an "instalment" at his residence Thursday morning and was subsequently caught red-handed, Paswan said.

He will be produced before a designated court after interrogation, the release added.