Jammu, February 18 A revenue official was arrested after he was allegedly caught red-handed while accepting a bribe in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, an official of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said.
Mohd Saleem Bandy, a 'girdawar' (revenue supervisor) stationed in Halqa Judda in the Arnas tehsil, demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the complainant in exchange for demarcating his ancestral land – a duty the accused was legally obligated to perform without any monetary consideration, the spokesman said.
Upon receiving the complaint, a case was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and a specialized trap team, headed by a deputy superintendent of police, was constituted.
The team successfully executed a trap operation, during which the accused was caught red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the complainant in the presence of independent witnesses, the spokesman said.
He said the accused was arrested immediately and in strict adherence to due process, and the bribe money was recovered from his possession in the presence of witnesses.
Subsequently, a search was also conducted at the accused's residence in Sallian Talab in Udhampur, in the presence of a magistrate, the spokesman added, stating that two FIRs had already been registered against the accused at the ACB police station in Udhampur.
