JOIN USThe Lokayukta police on Wednesday arrested Chamarajanagar tahsildar Chandrakanth Bhajanthri and another person on the charges of accepting a bribe of Rs two lakh.
Siraj Ahmed of Gundlupet, in his complaint to Lokayukta Superintendent of Police S M Jagadish Prasad on Tuesday, alleged that the tahsildar was demanding a bribe of Rs five lakh to permit him to lift stocks from a quarry belonging to his maternal uncle Mujahid Ahmed at Harave village in Chamarajanagar.
The quarry had been closed 10 months ago. Mujahid Ahmed had moved the High Court to reconsider the order and allow lifting of the stocks. The court granted him permission on July 8.
Siraj Ahmed then approached the tahsildar who allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs five lakh.
According to Siraj, he had paid an advance of Rs 50,000 to the tahsildar, and when he contacted him on Tuesday, Bhajanthri demanded Rs two lakh more. When Siraj went to meet him at his house in the evening, Bhajanthri reportedly asked him to bring the money on Wednesday.
Accordingly, Siraj went to his house Wednesday evening. But a suspicious Bhajanthri contacted Nagendra, a resident of Maleyur, who had been waiting to meet him. On the insistence of Bhajanthri, Nagendra received the cash from Siraj and was trapped by the Lokayukta team headed by Inspectors Nataraj (Chamarajanagar Lokayukta) and Mathews Thomas (Mysore).