Guwahati, Aug 18: A day after arresting a block elementary education officer in Kamrup district over bribery, the Assam vigilance and anti-corruption directorate on Thursday caught red handed another official from the state education department while accepting a bribe.
According to the complaint received at the directorate, Jatindra Nath Roy, UDA (upper division assistant) of Hadurhat Dharmasala HS School in Dhubri district had demanded a bribe of Rs 2000 from the complainant for transferring the service book and last pay certificate (LPC) of the complainant from the earlier place of posting to the recent place of posting.
“Unwilling to pay the bribe the complainant had approached the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption for taking legal action. Accordingly, a trap was laid today by a team from the directorate, following which Roy was caught red handed in his office, inside the school along with the accepted bribe 1.15 pm, which he had received from the complainant,” an official statement said.
The tainted bribe money was seized from the possession of Roy in the presence of independent witnesses while a house search was also carried out.
“A case has been registered at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) police station under Section 7(a) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) against the accused official. Necessary legal follow up action is underway,” it added.
Of late, the vigilance and anti-corruption directorate has acted tough against corrupt government officials across departments, in sync with the state government’s zero-tolerance policy, with many of them being caught red handed accepting bribes during traps laid by the directorate post complaints.
On Wednesday, Lachit Basumatary, block elementary education officer, Rani, Kamrup (rural) district, was arrested by the vigilance and anti-corruption directorate. The vigilance team also seized Rs one lakh from his possession.
IANS
