Bareilly land consolidation clerk caught red-handed taking bribe

Bareilly (UP), Aug 13 (PTI) An Anti-Corruption team on Tuesday arrested a clerk in the Bareilly's Land Consolidation Office for allegedly demanding a bribe in lieu of clearing a file related to a land registry, an official said.

Yashpal Singh, Circle Officer (CO) of the Anti-Corruption Organisation, said Sudha Agrawal had applied to have her name registered in the land consolidation records at the Bareilly Collectorate for a property in Mohanpur village.

"However, her file was stalled due to her refusal to pay a bribe. When she approached Abhay Saxena, a junior clerk at the Bareilly Land Consolidation Office, he demanded Rs 50,000 to process the paperwork, threatening that the work would not proceed without payment," Singh said.

Agrawal's manager Sunil Kumar then reported the matter to ACO, which set up a trap to catch the clerk in the act, the officer said.

"Today morning, after notifying the District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar and securing two government witnesses, Agrawal handed over the first installment of Rs 10,000 to Saxena in his office," he said.

"As soon as he accepted the money, the Anti-Corruption team apprehended him.

"He was taken to the Izzatnagar Police Station, where a formal complaint was filed against him," he added. PTI COR KIS SHB VN VN