Two govt officials arrested by Rajasthan ACB for 'accepting' bribe

In two separate cases of corruption, two government officials were arrested Monday while accepting bribes from private contractors for clearing their pending bills for their works, said Anti-Corruption Bureau officials.

Hukum Singh, a village development officer of Palayatha gram panchayat in Anta Tehsil of Rajasthan's Baran district was arrested from Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendra while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from Jakir Hussain, a contractor, ACB's Assistant Superintendent of Police Prerna Shekhawat said.

The contractor had carried out a construction work worth Rs 18 lakh in the gram panchayat in 201819, but had received a payment of Rs 15.50 lakh only, she said.

The accused village development officer (VDO) had been demanding a bribe of Rs 54,000 from the contractor for clearing his remaining dues, she added.

The contractor reported the matter to the ACB on April 4, following which a trap was laid and the contactor was asked to make a payment of Rs 20,000 with the ACB sleuths waiting nearby, she said.

As soon as the VDO accepted the money from the contractor, the ACB sleuths nabbed him red-handed, she said.

The ACB sleuths subsequently also raided the residence of the accused officials.

The raid is still going on and nothing can be said as yet about recoveries made from his residence, she added.

In another case, Umashankar Sharma, an assistant engineer working for the Samagra Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan was arrested by the ACB's Jhalawar unit sleuths while accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from another contractor, Jagdish Lodha, for clearing his bill, they said.

Sharma was arrested from his house in Agrasen colony of the city, they said.

Lodha had contacted the ACB after the accused had demanded the bribe for clearing his bill of Rs 7.59 lakh, said ASP Bhawani Shankar Meena of ACB's Jhalawar unit.

The ACB also recovered Rs 1,02,000 in cash and a large number of officials files from his residence, the ASP added.

Both the accused have been booked separately and will be produced before the ACB court in Kota on Tuesday, the official said.