Janjgir-Champa, India: Officials from India’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested an additional tehsildar and a revenue officer (patwari) in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district after allegedly catching them red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹35,000, authorities said on Wednesday.
The accused have been identified as Karuna Aher, Additional Tehsildar at the Pamgarh tehsil office, and Ayush Dhruv, a patwari posted in the area. The arrests took place during a raid conducted by an ACB team at the Pamgarh tehsil office. Both officials were taken into custody for questioning and later produced before a district court, which remanded them to judicial custody.
According to the ACB, the case originated from a complaint filed by Virendra Kaushik, in-charge of the Chorbhatthi paddy procurement center. Kaushik alleged that the two officials demanded a bribe of ₹40,000 in exchange for not reporting irregularities allegedly found during the physical verification and token issuance process at the procurement center.
Investigators said the accused had allegedly pressured the complainant after claiming discrepancies at the procurement center and offered to “settle” the matter in return for cash. Acting on the complaint, the ACB verified the allegations and laid a trap.
On Wednesday, chemically treated currency notes totaling ₹35,000 were handed to the complainant. As soon as the money was exchanged, ACB officials who were already stationed at the site moved in and apprehended both accused officials.
“This action was taken following a verified complaint. The accused were caught accepting the bribe amount during the trap operation,” said Keshav Narayan Aditya, Inspector, Anti-Corruption Bureau, Bilaspur. He added that further action would be taken as per senior officers’ directions and that the ACB would continue strict enforcement against corruption.
The arrests come amid heightened political controversy in the state over paddy procurement, an issue that has triggered protests and policy adjustments in recent days.