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Rajasthan ACB traps lab assistant in bribery case; SDO held in separate action

Jaipur, April 20 (IANS) The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday arrested a government employee in Dausa district for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000.

The accused, Aditya Sharma, a laboratory assistant at Government Senior Secondary School, Baswa, currently on deputation at the SDM office in Bandikui, was caught red-handed while taking the bribe in the name of Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ramsingh Rajawat.

According to Director General of Police (ACB) Govind Gupta, the bureau received a complaint through its helpline (1064).

The complainant alleged that a bribe of Rs 30,000 was being demanded for granting a stay order in a civil case pending before the SDM court in Bandikui.

The complaint further stated that Sharma was acting as an intermediary on behalf of the SDM and had been pressuring the complainant for payment.

The ACB conducted verification on April 17, during which a demand of Rs 15,000 was confirmed. Acting on this, a trap operation was laid by the ACB outpost (Alwar-I). Under the supervision of Deputy Inspector General of Police Bhuvan Bhushan and led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Shabbir Khan, the team apprehended Sharma while he was accepting the bribe amount.

The operation was carried out under the supervision of Additional Director General of Police Smita Srivastava and Inspector General of Police S. Parimala.

Officials said a case will be registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further investigation is under way to determine the involvement of other individuals.

Earlier, the ACB’s Sawai Madhopur unit conducted a trap operation on April 16, in which Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Kajal Meena of Nadoti subdivision was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 60,000 from a complainant.

The bribe was allegedly routed through her reader, Dinesh Kumar Saini, and senior assistant, Praveen Dhakad, in exchange for issuing the final decree related to the partition of the complainant’s land.

According to Govind Gupta, Director General of Police, Anti-Corruption Bureau, the ACB outpost in Sawai Madhopur had received a complaint alleging that Kajal Meena, through her reader, was demanding a bribe of Rs 50,000 for issuing the final decree.

The complainant stated that the initial demand was Rs 1,00,000, which was later negotiated to Rs 50,000.

On April 16, a confidential verification was conducted, during which the reader demanded Rs 50,000 on behalf of the SDO and an additional Rs 10,000 for himself, totalling Rs 60,000. Later that day, the complainant was summoned to the SDO office at Nadoti, where the bribe amount was handed over. The reader accepted the money and passed it to senior assistant Praveen Dhakad.

During the operation, Dinesh Saini admitted to accepting the bribe on behalf of Kajal Meena. A phone conversation between the reader and Meena further confirmed her consent to the transaction.

Subsequently, Praveen Dhakad was called to the office with the money, where he arrived carrying the bag containing the bribe amount.

The ACB team recovered Rs 60,000 as bribe money along with an additional Rs 4,00,000 in suspicious cash from the same bag. Kajal Meena, Dinesh Saini, and Praveen Dhakad were detained on the spot. Further investigation in the case is under way.

–IANS

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