Lie of the land

An Indian Forest Service officer in Chhattisgarh learnt the hard way that corruption doesn’t always pay, even if it’s possible to get away with it. Posted in Bastar, he bought some property near Raipur but in a relative’s name. In vain, since the proxy purchase was discovered and the value of the the property was clearly disproportionate to his known means of income. Having discovered that a search by the economic offences wing was imminent, the official handed over the land records to his doctor friend. The doctor proceeded to take advantage of this and sold the property. When the forest official finally tried to reclaim the land, the revenue record showed that it had been sold. It was only when his relative, in whose name the property had been bought, lodged a complaint that the doctor was finally arrested, though the official went scot-free since he wasn’t legally involved in the deal.