Guj: Four taluka panchayat staffers held for demanding Rs 4.45 lakh bribe

The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested four staffers of a taluka panchayat in Panchmahal district for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 4.45 lakh, an official said on Thursday. The ACB on Wednesday arrested Zarina Ansari, the taluka development officer (TDO) of Shehra taluka, accounts assistant Hemant Prajapati, assistant engineer Riyaz Mansuri and Kirtipal Solanki of the Watershed Development Team, the official said.

Ansari is a Class-2 government officer, while the others are contractual employees of Shehra Taluka Panchayat, he said.

According to the ACB, the complainant is a material supplier who had won a tender to supply raw material for the construction of a road, a well, and a protection wall under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme.

The accused had allegedly demanded a bribe from the complainant to hand over cheques of Rs 4.46 crore towards his payment, it was stated.

This bribe was in addition to what the complainant had paid earlier when the work was underway, the official said.

Prajapati and Solanki demanded Rs 1 lakh each, while TDO Ansari sought Rs 2.45 lakh through Mansuri, he said, adding that the accused had demanded a total of Rs 4.45 lakh, which is around 10 percent of the bill amount.

The ACB laid a trap at the complainant's office in Shehra town on Wednesday and caught Prajapati and Solanki red-handed while accepting Rs 2 lakh cash from the supplier, the official said.

Mansuri and Ansari were arrested, as they had demanded the bribe and had spoken to the complainant about the same, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)