Guwahati, March 18: Teams from the Assam directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption laid traps in three districts of the state on Monday, and arrested three government employees, including two officers, in a series of bribery cases.
In one of the traps laid in the office of the district commissioner, Kamrup (Metro) here, Harendra Nath Baishya Bania, a treasury officer, was caught red handed in his office chamber, immediately after he accepted Rs 4,000 as part of the demanded bribe from the complainant.
“The bribe money was recovered from his possession and seized accordingly, in the presence of witnesses,” the superintendent of police, directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption, Assam, said in a statement issued here.
According to the complainant, the treasury officer had demanded Rs 10,000 for approving the challan for depositing money to the government account against the purchase of non-judicial stamps.
In this connection, a case was registered at ACB Police Station vide ACB PS case number 27/2024, under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Subsequently, after sufficient evidence was gathered against the public servant, the vigilance team arrested him.
In another bribery case, Brajendra Nath Das, a child development project officer (CDPO) of Borobazar ICDS Project, Bijni, in Chirang district, was caught red handed on the campus of the office of the sub-divisional officer (SDO) civil after he accepted Rs 10,000 as part of the bribe demanded from the complainant.
The bribe money was recovered from his possession and seized accordingly, in the presence of independent witnesses. The CDPO had demanded Rs 30,000 as bribe from the complainant for payment of bills.
In this connection, a case was registered under Section 7(a) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The vigilance team found sufficient evidence against the public servant to arrest him in the case.
In the third such catch, Nanda Hazarika, a switchboard operator-1 at the office of the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL), sub-division-2 in Nagaon district, was caught red handed near his residence in Nagaon, immediately after he accepted Rs 3,500 as bribe from the complainant.
The public servant had initially demanded Rs 19,000 as bribe from the complainant for processing an application for a commercial meter of the complainant, but later, reduced the amount.
The money was recovered from his possession and seized accordingly, in the presence of independent witnesses.
In this connection, a case was registered under Section 7(a) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against the public servant who was subsequently arrested after the vigilance team found sufficient evidence against him.