Assam: Senior government employee caught red-handed while accepting bribe in Guwahati

Assam Police Vigilance and Anti-Corruption sleuths on February 6 caught red-handed a senior government employee at the chief engineer (Irrigation) office in Chandmari of Guwahati for accepting bribe money, said police.

Reacting over the same, the Assam DGP GP Singh appreciated the state police and asked the police to continue their crackdown against corruption in the state.

''Today, a team of @DIR_VAC_ASSAM trapped red-handed and arrested Sh. Deep Bania, Senior Assistant, O/O the Chief Engineer, Irrigation, Chandmari, Guwahati after he accepted demanded bribe from the complainant for processing his pension case. @CMOfficeAssam @assampolice,'' the Assam Police tweeted.

Earlier in January this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested seven persons, including a hawala operator and an Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM) of Indian Railways posted in Guwahati, in connection with a bribe case of Rs 50 lakh.

The accused were identified as Jitendra Pal Singh (IRSE-1997) ADRM, Guwahati; Shyamal Kumar Deb (contractor, who arranged the money), Hari Om (an acquaintance of the public servant), Yogendra Kumar Singh (driver of Hariom), Dilawar Khan, (cashier of the hawala shop), Vinod Kumar Singhal alias Mukesh (owner of a hawala shop) and Sanjeet Ray (hawala cashier).

A senior CBI official said that a case was registered against Singh and other private persons, including contractors on the allegations of bribery.

The CBI said that the accused entered into a conspiracy with the intention of showing undue favours to the private contractors for awarding of contract agreements, preparation of measurement book, processing of running account bills, early release of payment against pending bills, and for the ongoing work of construction in North East Frontier Railway as well as for the early release of a security deposit and bank guarantees.

The CBI laid a trap and caught Singh while accepting a bribe of Rs 50 lakh on behalf of Singh, the money was delivered through the hawala channel. Later on, Singh and other private persons were also caught.

Also read: Assam: Helicopter service to connect four major cities from February 8