A Panchayat Development Officer (PDO) from Nelamangala’s Agalkuppe gram panchayat was caught by the Lokayukta police in the act of receiving a bribe on Thursday.
A police team supervised by Srinath Mahadev Joshi successfully set a trap to catch the officer, N Narasimhamurthy, based on a complaint filed by Shivanna, a resident of Vijayanagar.
A few days ago, Shivanna visited the gram panchayat office for khata transfer of a two-acre land in Nijagal village within the gram panchayat limits.
Narasimhamurthy demanded a bribe of Rs 6 lakh to get the work done, asking for Rs 2 lakh in advance. Not wanting to pay the bribe, Shivanna reported the matter to the Lokayukta police.
Going by the police's instructions, Shivanna went to Narasimhamurthy's office and handed over Rs 2 lakh on Thursday afternoon.
The Lokayukta police arrested Narasimhamurthy when he was in possession of the bribe money.
Following the trap, police conducted searches at Narasimhamurthy's residence and other properties and found Rs 13 lakh in cash. The documents found at his residence are being verified.
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