BDO arrested for accepting Rs 1.15 lakh bribe
2 min readPATNA: A female block development officer (BDO) posted at Rampur block of Kaimur district was arrested red handed while accepting bribe of Rs 1.15 lakh from Kurari panchayat mukhiya Satendra Kumar Singh by a team of vigilance investigation bureau from her official residence located at Rampur block on Thursday.
The officer Varsha Tarve (57), is a native of Gaya district and had demanded the bribe for giving an administrative approval of a water pipeline project in Kurari Panchayat of the Rampur block for supplying potable water in every household under the seven resolution scheme of CM Nitish Kumar.
The vigilance trap team, led by DSP Maharaja Kanishk Kumar Singh, during the search of Tarve’s official residence, also recovered Rs 1.7 lakh more in addition to the bribe money of Rs 1.15 lakh.
DSP Singh while talking to TOI over phone, after the arresting, said that Tarve failed to explain the source of Rs 1.7 lakh recovered from her official residence.
“It was the mukhiya who had lodged a complaint with the bureau in Patna on July 12 that the BDO was demanding 5% as commission to give administrative approval to a plan of laying water pipeline in the panchayat under CM’s seven resolution scheme,” the DSP said.
He said a junior engineering posted at the block level, had prepared the scheme with estimated expenditure of Rs 23 lakh for the entire panchayat.
“The mukhiya had alleged that in lieu of the approving the entire project, the BDO was demanding 5% of Rs 23 lakh as commission while the while the Kurari panchayat secretary Satendra Singh was also demanding the same percentage of commission,” the DSP said quoting the mukhiya’s complaint.
He said that the vigilance sleuths on July 14, initiated verification process of the allegation of demanding bribe against the BDO and the panchayat secretary and found it to be true.
“Together, the duo were to accept bribe of Rs 1.15 lakh each on Wednesday from the mukhiya but the panchayat secretary had to leave for district headquarters for resolving some complaint of common people made through public grievance cell just before the raid due to which he could not be caught,” DSP Singh said adding vigilance has concrete evidence that even he had demanded bribe from the mukhiya.
Singh said that the BDO had joined service in 1989 as a “mahila prachar padadhikari” and would retired within three years.
“The bureau had received huge amount of complaints from several people of demanding bribe by the BDO in the past too but no concrete evidence had surfaced in those,” he added.
Courtesy: TNN
