A 56-year-old Sub Divisional Officer of Public Works Department was caught red-handed by sleuths of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while accepting Rs 1 lakh as bribe in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, ACB informed on Saturday.
The accused SDO has been identified as Kunwar lal Rangari (56), presently posted at PDW’s Maddhed sub-division in Bijapur.
According to ACB, the accused SDO had sought bribe of `2.45 lakh from a private contractor for releasing payment against construction work carried out by him. On the complaint of contractor, ACB sleuths have carried out verification of the complaint and found it as genuine. After undertaking required investigation, ACB officials laid a trap to nab Rangari red-handed.
Following the instruction of ACB officials, the complainant reached Bijapur-based officer of Rangari along with first installment of bribe as decided between them, said officials, elaborating that the SDO was caught red-handed with `1 lakh as bribe money.
In this connection, ACB has registered a case under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act-1988 and arrested the accused officer, ACB said and further added that investigation in the case was underway.