SDM office employee held for taking bribe

Sasaram: The vigilance department on Tuesday arrested an employee of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Bikramganj for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1.60 lakh to settle a land dispute. The arrest adds to a series of anti-corruption drives in which nearly a dozen govt officials have been caught in Kaimur and Rohtas districts over the past six months.The accused was nabbed around noon following a complaint by Rakesh Kumar of Dhangai village under Bikramganj police station. Vigilance DSP Narendra Kumar said the allegations were verified before laying the trap.Officials said the complainant arrived on Tuesday to hand over the money. The accused allegedly asked him to place the cash behind him, citing CCTV cameras. The vigilance team, already in position, immediately caught him with the bribe money.The dispute involves land in Dhangai village. As per procedure, such cases fall under the deputy collector, land reforms (DCLR). DSP Narendra Kumar said investigations are ongoing to determine if the orderly was acting for senior officials. “There is a possibility that he was merely a conduit,” he said.Both complainant and accused are relatives (pattidars) from the same village. Sources revealed that the vigilance department had been monitoring certain senior officials handling land disputes in the region prior to the arrest.This is not the first such case. On May 20 this year, vigilance sleuths caught Akash Kumar Das, a data operator at the Sasaram circle office, taking a bribe of ₹1.10 lakh in a land mutation case. Following the arrest, CO Sasaram Sudhir Onkara was directed to report to state headquarters amid suspicions of his role.A senior vigilance officer, speaking anonymously, said corrupt senior officials often use clerks and peons as intermediaries to collect bribes in administrative cases.Further arrests are not ruled out as investigations continue into the wider network of corruption in the district’s land management offices.