DFO among three forest officials arrested for demanding, accepting bribe

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption on Thursday arrested three forest officials, including a divisional forest officer, for allegedly demanding and accepting bribe.

A complaint was received that Dhubri DFO Binod Kumar Payeng had demanded a one-time bribe of Rs 50,000 for unhindered movement of sand-laden vehicles in his jurisdiction, according to an official release.

Payeng had also asked the complainant to meet his subordinates to fix a monthly system of payment of bribes. When the complainant met them, they demanded Rs 4 lakh but the amount was later reduced to Rs 2 lakh on the intervention of the DFO.

Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the directorate and a trap was laid at the DFO's office, following which two grade 1 foresters, identified as Ziaul Islam and Sahabaz Sultan, were caught red-handed while accepting bribes of Rs 15,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively.

Payeng was later arrested for demanding bribe and accepting it through his subordinates. The bribe amount was recovered, it said, adding the trio was booked.

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