Village Development Officer, sarpanch held for taking bribe in Kota

Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths arrested a suspended Village Development Officer (VDO) and sarpanch of Mandana panchayat Samiti in Rajasthan's Kota district on Sunday for allegedly taking a bribe, officials said.

The VDO was under suspension in a separate case, the officials said.

The two were arrested from their residents after the VDO allegedly took a bribe of Rs 20,000 at his house in R K Puram of the city on Sunday, they said.

According to DSP, ACB, Bundi, Tarunkant Somani, a complaint was lodged last Wednesday, alleging that VDO Mahaveer Prasad Jain and sarpanch Babli Meena had demanded a bribe of Rs 25,000 from a man for issuing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to convert his agriculture land in Mandana town for industrial purpose.

The VDO allegedly took an initial amount of Rs 5,000 as bribe on Wednesday and the ACB carried out a verification of the complaint on the same day, the DSP said.

The VDO called complainant Rajendra Kumar Gochar to come with the remaining part of the bribe to his house on Sunday. The ACB officers nabbed him and recovered Rs 20,000-bribe from his possession, DSP Somani said.

Another ACB team arrested sarpanch Meena from her house, he said.

Further investigation into the matter is underway, the DSP added.