Srinagar: Anti Corruption Bureau on Saturday trapped and arrested a ward officer of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) for demanding and accepting bribe from a complainant.
A spokesman of the Bureau said that ACB received a written complaint alleging therein that Ward Officer SMC of Hawal area of Srinagar is demanding Rs. 50,000/- as bribe for allowing construction in favour of the complainant.
“He had asked the complainant to pay Rs. 20,000 as first installment. However, before paying the bribe amount to the accused person, the complainant approached ACB,” said the spokesman.
He further said that on receipt of the complaint a Case FIR No. 33/2022 U/S 7 PC Act 1988 was registered with this Bureau and investigation was taken up.
“During the course of investigation a trap team was constituted. The team laid a successful trap and caught the accused public servant Mohd Maqbool Bhat red handed while accepting bribe amount of Rs. 20,000 from the complainant as first instalment of Rs.50,000,” the spokesman said.
He further said that the accused was arrested on the spot by the ACB team and bribe money was also recovered from his possession in presence of independent witnesses.
“Subsequently, searches were carried out at different locations associated with the accused. Further investigation into the case is going on,” added the spokesman.
