Suspended Satna commissioner, held for bribery, sent to JC

Satna Municipal Commissioner Surendra Kathuria, arrested allegedly for accepting bribe worth Rs 22 lakhs in cash and kind, was remanded in judicial custody today till July 13 by a local court.
Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta police had arrested Kathuria on June 26 for allegedly accepting Rs 12 lakh cash and jewellery worth Rs 10 lakh from the owner of a nursing home as bribe for not demolishing illegal part of the nursing home.
Kathuria, an MP Administrative Service officer, was produced before Additional Sessions Judge Devnarayan Shukla today after expiry of his three-day police custody period.
As the judge ordered Kathuria to be sent to the Satna central jail under judicial custody, the officer, suspended after his arrest, fainted in the court room and was taken out of the court.

On Kathuria's lawyer Anil Khare's request, the judge ordered jail authorities to provide him medical treatment.
Earlier, Khare argued that his client had been framed up. Lokayukta police had recovered cash and jewellery from the premises of his client's residence and not from his hands, the lawyer said.

Kathuria's strict actions as the commissioner had annoyed some people, he said, while seeking bail for his client.
Prosecutors Arun Pathak and Hanuman Shukla, however, opposed the bail plea, saying it may affect the ongoing probe.
The court then remanded Kathuria in judicial custody till July 13.