Srinagar, March 25 – The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) apprehended and arrested a "Naib Tehsildar" (executive magistrate) in the Anantnag district on Wednesday for accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000, officials said.
A statement from the J&K ACB said that it had apprehended and arrested a Naib Tehsildar posted in the Arwani area of Anantnag district for demanding and accepting a bribe in connection with a land inheritance mutation case.
The ACB received a written complaint that Arwani Naib Tehsildar, Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, was demanding a bribe of Rs 1,00,000 from the complainant's in-laws for the inheritance mutation of land measuring 18 Kanals in the name of his wife, three sisters-in-law, and one brother-in-law.
The complainant chose not to pay the bribe and instead approached the ACB for legal action against the said Naib Tehsildar as envisaged under the law.
"Upon receiving the complaint, a discreet verification was conducted, which confirmed the demand by the said government employee, and accordingly, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Section 7, read with the Amendment Act-2018, was registered at the Anantnag ACB police station, and the investigation was initiated," the statement said.
It added that during the course of the investigation, a trap team was constituted.
The team successfully laid a trap and caught Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Dangipora village in Budgam district, who was posted as the Naib Tehsildar in Anantnag's Arwani village, red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe.
"He was arrested on the spot, and the bribe amount was also recovered from his possession in the presence of independent witnesses associated with the trap team."
"Subsequently, a search of the residential house of the accused government employee was carried out in the presence of Executive Magistrates and independent witnesses. Further investigation of the case filed immediately is underway," the statement added.