ACB nabs 2 tax officials, engineer for accepting bribe in Churu & Jalore

Jaipur: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Friday arrested two commercial tax officers and a junior engineer in two separate traps in Churu and Jalore after they were caught red-handed while accepting bribes.

In the first case, Mahesh Kumar, assistant commercial tax officer (ACTO), and Narendra Singh, junior commercial tax officer, were arrested in Churu for accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh, ACB director general of police Dr Ravi Prakash Meharda said.

The complaint was filed by a firm owner who alleged that the officers demanded Rs 2 lakh to avoid declaring his firm a defaulter for not filing returns. After initial verification, ACB officials laid a trap Friday. The complainant, through his chartered accountant, allegedly handed over Rs 1 lakh to ACTO Mahesh Kumar inside his office in Ratangarh. Mahesh Kumar then passed the money to Narendra Singh, who stuffed the cash into a mini carry bag and kept it in his pants pocket. Both officers were caught on the spot, and the bribe amount was recovered from Narendra Singh, said DG.

DG Meharda said the action was taken after receiving a credible complaint. A case was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further investigation is in progress.

In a separate trap in Jalore, ACB arrested Ankit Tiwari, a junior engineer posted with Jodhpur Discom in Jaswantpura, while accepting a Rs 7,000 bribe. The complainant alleged that Tiwari demanded the money for increasing the electricity load at a commercial complex from 1 kV single-phase to 15 kV three-phase. Following verification of the complaint, ACB laid a trap Friday. Ankit Tiwari was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe.