Woman sarpanch caught taking bribe in MP's model village

A woman sarpanch of a model village in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district was on Thursday caught red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 for issuing a no-objection certificate, police said.

The accused, Rajkumari Barkade, is the sarpanch of Gopalganj, a model village in Seoni, an official said.

Barkade had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the complainant for issuing a no-objection certificate to set up a mobile tower on his private land, Lokayukta's deputy superintendent of police (DSP) J P Verma said.

Following negotiations, the woman had settled for Rs 4,000, he said.

Acting on a tip-off, Lokayukta sleuths caught Barkade while accepting the bribe amount from the complainant at Sarpanch Bhawan, the official said.

The police have registered a case and further probe is underway, he added.