Assam govt official caught accepting bribe in Baksha

An assistant engineer of the Irrigation Department in Assam was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe in the Baksa district, police said.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (V&AC) wing of Assam Police arrested the assistant engineer on Wednesday in Suklai Serfang Goreswar Division (Irrigation) of Baksa, they said.

He had demanded a bribe of Rs 30,000 from the complainant for issuing a work order after being awarded a contract in the Irrigation Division. Later, the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 25,000 by the accused.

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"Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached this Directorate for taking necessary legal action against the above-mentioned public servant," an official statement said.

Accordingly, a trap was laid by a team of V&AC sleuths and the official was caught red-handed immediately after he accepted Rs 20,000 as part of the demanded bribe from the friend of the complainant, it added.

"The tainted bribe money has been recovered from the possession of the accused public servant and it has been seized accordingly in presence of independent witnesses," the statement said.

During the physical search of the official, an additional amount of Rs 10,000 was recovered from his possession, it added.

"Finding sufficient evidence against the accused public servant, he has been arrested by the team of the Directorate of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption, Assam. Necessary legal follow-up action is underway," the statement said.