HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Sept 9: Sleuths of the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption, Assam on Friday caught two Forest department personnel red handed while accepting a bribe in order to settle a case.
According to the directorate, a Grade 2 forester Kamini Narzary had demanded a bribe of Rs 40,000 from the complainant in order to regularise a forest case in the name of the complainant. Later, the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 35,000 by the accused public servant.
Accordingly, a trap was laid on Friday by a team of the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption at Padma Beel area under Gossaigaon PS. The accused Kamini Narzary and forest guard Prabin Brahma, both from the office of the divisional forest officer, Kachugaon Forest Division, Gossaigaon, were caught red handed around 12:00 PM, in an eatery named Mongolian Dhaba, soon after they accepted the demanded bribe from the complainant and were counting the amount of Rs 20,000.
The tainted bribe money was then recovered from their possession and a case was registered in the ACB Police Station on Friday itself vide ACB PS Case No. 37/2022 U/S 7(a) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) and section 120B IPC in this connection.
Necessary legal follow up actions are underway, a release stated.
