ACB arrests public prosecutor, middlemen for accepting Rs 20 lakh bribe

Ahmedabad, Dec 11 (PTI) The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a public prosecutor of a civil court and two of his middlemen, including a lawyer, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a litigant, officials said on Wednesday.

Rajendra Gadhvi, who serves as a public prosecutor at Kathlal civil court in Kheda district, was nabbed red-handed while accepting the bribe from the complainant on Tuesday, the anti-graft agency said in a release.

Two of his middlemen - Suresh Patel, a lawyer with Ahmedabad metropolitan court, and Vishal Patel, a resident of Naroda area, were also nabbed during a trap laid by the ACB at a photocopy shop in Naroda on Tuesday.

As per the case details, the complainant has recently filed a case in the Kathlal civil court against a person who had sold a piece of land to him, said the release.

To help him get a favourable order from the court, Gadhvi had demanded Rs 50 lakh from the complainant. Of these, Gadhvi demanded Rs 20 lakh and the remaining sum after the issuance of order by the court.

Gadhvi had asked the complainant to hand over the bribe money to the Patel duo at a shop in Naroda area.

After receiving the complaint, the ACB laid a trap at the shop and nabbed Gadhvi and two of his middlemen while accepting Rs 20 lakh cash, the release said. PTI PJT NP