Dahod, Aug 10 (IANS) The Mahisagar Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday caught an Affordable Housing Mission (AHM) engineer working with Zalod Municipality and another person while allegedly accepting a Rs 10,000 bribe linked to an instalment under the Pradhan Mantri Urban Housing Scheme.
The accused were identified as 35-year-old Jayeshkumar Patel, an AHM engineer working with Zalod Municipality on an 11-month contractual basis, and 49-year-old Manubhai Vasaiya, a businessman and private citizen.
Patel is a resident of Muvada in Zalod and is originally from Kansa village in Visnagar taluka of Mehsana district. Vasaiya resides in Rayan Faliya in Muvada in Zalod.
According to the ACB, the complainant, described as a “vigilant citizen”, had been sanctioned a house under the Pradhan Mantri Urban Housing Scheme.
The first instalment of Rs 70,000 was deposited into the complainant’s account at the Bank of Baroda’s Zalod branch, following which a bribe of Rs 5,000 was allegedly demanded.
After the second instalment of Rs 80,000 was deposited, another demand of Rs 10,000 was allegedly made.
Subsequently, when the third instalment of Rs 1.50 lakh was credited to the complainant’s account, a further demand for Rs 10,000 was allegedly made in connection with the instalment.
Unwilling to pay, the complainant approached the Mahisagar ACB and lodged a complaint.
Based on the complaint, the bureau arranged a trap on Monday. During the operation, Patel allegedly told the complainant to hand over the bribe money to Vasaiya.
After a purposeful conversation with the complainant, the demand for Rs 10,000 was allegedly made. In the presence of Panch No. 1, Vasaiya allegedly accepted the money on Patel’s instructions.
The ACB subsequently caught both accused and recovered the entire Rs 10,000 allegedly paid as bribe.
The trap was conducted at a paan-masala stall near Muvada Chokdi, beside the police outpost in Zalod, on August 10.
Police Inspector M M Tejot of the Mahisagar ACB Police Station in Lunawada led the operation.
It was supervised by B M Patel, Assistant Director, ACB Panchmahal Unit in Godhra. Baldev Desai, Deputy Director, ACB Vadodara, was the officer in charge of the operation.
–IANS
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