Surendranagar, July 21 (IANS) The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested the husband of the sarpanch of Untadi Gram Panchayat and the village’s deputy sarpanch after allegedly catching them in a Rs 5 lakh bribery trap linked to permission for sand extraction in Surendranagar district.
According to the ACB, the trap was laid on Tuesday at the compound of Premvati Bhojanalay near the Limbdi highway crossroads, where Sanjay Kamejaliya, 35, was allegedly caught accepting Rs 5 lakh from a complainant.
The bureau said the complainant, described as a vigilant citizen, had approached it after refusing to pay the demanded bribe. The ACB identified Kamejaliya as the husband of the sarpanch of Untadi Gram Panchayat.
The second accused, Sunil Katudiya, 27, is the deputy sarpanch of the same gram panchayat.
According to the complaint, Kamejaliya initially demanded Rs 1,000 per truck to allow the complainant to extract sand from a designated site in Untadi village.
The complainant told him he was willing to contribute Rs 100 per truck to the village as a charitable donation instead of paying a bribe.
The ACB alleged that both accused continued insisting on a payment of Rs 1,000 per truck before Kamejaliya later sought a lump sum of Rs 6.3 lakh.
The complainant negotiated the amount, following which the demand was allegedly reduced to Rs 5 lakh.
Unwilling to pay the money, the complainant approached the Surendranagar ACB, which organised a trap. During the operation, Kamejaliya allegedly held the pre-arranged conversation with the complainant and accepted Rs 5 lakh in cash.
The entire amount was recovered by the ACB, which stated that the bribe demanded was Rs 6.3 lakh, while the amount accepted and recovered was Rs 5 lakh.
The bureau said that after accepting the cash, Kamejaliya telephoned Katudiya from his mobile phone and obtained his confirmation. Katudiya later arrived at the location and was also apprehended.
The ACB alleged that Katudiya misused his position as a public servant and that both accused acted together in committing the alleged offence.
The arrests are the latest in a series of ACB operations across Gujarat.
Last week, the bureau trapped three police personnel in Bharuch district after they allegedly accepted Rs 1 lakh as part of a Rs 3 lakh demand for returning a mobile phone seized in a prohibition case.
In another recent case, the Surendranagar ACB arrested a hospital peon and security supervisor who allegedly accepted a Rs 2,000 bribe from a security guard in exchange for not causing harassment and ensuring attendance-related issues did not affect his employment.
–IANS
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