Health inspector caught red-handed accepting bribe

Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on Friday arrested a senior BBMP health inspector, T Dasarahalli zone, red-handed while accepting a bribe from a man who needed a licence to run an oil mill. V R Praveen Kumar, a resident of Doddabidarakallu, is the arrested.

According to ACB officials, Jayanth, a resident of Mallasandra, had applied for a licence to run an oil mill in the T Dasarahalli zonal office limits.

Kumar told Jayanth it would take at least a month to issue the licence. Jayanth requested him to issue the licence at the earliest. Kumar said he would issue it in a day or two if Jayanth paid him Rs 12,000.

Kumar took Rs 3,000 as an advance and asked Jayanth to pay the remaining to speed up the process.

Jayanth, who had lost his job during the lockdown and had no income, decided to approach the ACB and file a complaint. ACB officials asked Jayanth to strike a deal with Kumar and pay Rs 7,000.

As Kumar was taking the money, the officials charged in and caught him red-handed and seized the amount. Further investigation is on.

Jayanth said he wanted to start his own business so that he could provide jobs to a few people at his mill.