Gujarat Bribe Scandal: Officials Demand 'Instalment' Payments

In Gujarat, at least 10 cases of officials and middlemen demanding bribes in instalments have emerged this year. The Anti-Corruption Bureau has indicated this practice isn’t new. Various incidents across the state highlight instances where individuals approached the ACB after initially agreeing to pay bribes in parts.

In Gujarat, government corruption continues to thrive as officials demand bribes in instalments. So far this year, the state's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has reported at least ten such cases.

ACB Director Shamsher Singh noted that this 'instalment' method of taking bribes is not new. 'Usually, the victim agrees to pay the first instalment before any work is done and the second instalment after,' Singh explained. Often, victims change their minds and report to the ACB before completing the transaction.

Notable cases include a March incident where two men, claiming to represent Gujarat GST officials, demanded Rs 21 lakh in bribes from a mobile shop owner in Ahmedabad. In another instance, this April, a deputy sarpanch and taluka panchayat member in Surat were caught accepting Rs 35,000 as the first instalment of an Rs 80,000 bribe.

Additional cases have been reported involving a police sub-inspector in Gandhinagar and a royalty inspector in Narmada district. Despite the arrests, it remains evident that the practice of taking bribes in parts persists in Gujarat.

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