Guwahati, Feb 5: A team from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Assam, laid a trap and caught an assistant engineer of the office of the Block Development Officer, Central Jorhat Development Block, red-handed while accepting a bribe on Wednesday.
Earlier, a complaint was received at the directorate alleging that Siba Prasad Saikia, the assistant engineer, had demanded Rs 15,000 as bribe from the complainant for clearance of MGNREGA bills.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the directorate for taking necessary legal action against the public servant.
“Accordingly, a trap was laid by a team from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Assam at the office of the Block Development Officer, Central Jorhat Development Block, Chipahikhola in Jorhat district. Saikia was thereafter caught red handed after he accepted Rs 15,000 as the demanded bribe from the complainant,” the superintendent of police, Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Assam, said in a statement.
The bribe money was recovered from his possession and seized in the presence of witnesses.
On finding sufficient evidence against the accused public servant, the team from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Assam, arrested him.
In this connection, a case has been registered at ACB Police Station vide ACB P.S. case number 12/2025 under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) Necessary legal follow-up action is underway.