Woman pradhan, 2 others arrested for bribery in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday arrested a woman pradhan of Udaipurwati panchayat samiti in Jhunjhunu district along with a middleman and a block development officer (BDO) for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 for passing the bills for infrastructural work.
A case under appropriate sections of Prevention of Corruption Act was lodged against the arrested trio-pradhan Maya Devi, the then Udaipurwati BDO Babu Lal Raigar who is currently working as the chief planning officer with Churu zila parishad, and the middleman, Bhola Ram. Maya Devi's husband and a junior technical assistant were allegedly part of this corruption racket and are on the run, said officials. Hemant Priyadarshi, the ADG of ACB who is currently in charge of DG, said the bureau had received a complaint stating that the owner of a firm that had completed infrastructural work in the panchayat samiti areas was being asked for bribe for clearing his bills of Rs 37 lakh.
"Our team verified the complaint and found the accused JTA, identified as Narendra, had already taken Rs 75,000, including cash and UPI transfer of Rs 33,000. A trap was laid and the three people were arrested," said Priyadarshi.
Bhola Ram accepted the bribe on behalf of the pradhan, the then BDO and the JTA, said officials. After he was caught red handed, the two others were arrested. The two other accused, JTA Narendra and Ramniwas are on the run. After the arrests, ACB initiated searches on the premises of the accused in Jhunjhunu and other places. tnn