Village secretary, two others arrested for taking Rs 25,000 bribe in R'than

A village secretary and two others were arrested on Thursday for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000 for clearing a Rs 10 lakh bill for the construction of a yoga hall, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials said.

The accused include village secretary Ashok Sain -- who holds extra charge of Kherabad gram panchyat here, the son of the sarpanch Rakesh Bairwa (36) and munshi of the office Mahesh Saini, they said.

Sain and Bairwa had demanded a bribe of Rs 58,000 from a contractor for sanctioning a bill of Rs 10 lakh for the construction of a yoga bhavan in the village, said Prerna Shekhawat, additional superintendent of police, ACB special unit, Kota.

The contractor lodged a complaint in this regard with the ACB on Monday, she said.

A trap was laid to arrest the accused persons. Sain and Bairwa accepted the bribe and handed the cash to Saini for counting, the ASP said.

They began tearing up the notes when they realised that they had been caught, Shekhawat said.

Cash worth Rs 77,000 was recovered from Sain's house in a raid, she added.

Shekhawat said the accused persons would be produced before the ACB court here later on Thursday and the agency would recommend a disproportionate assets case against Sain.