Nagpur.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday caught a Junior Engineer and Technician of Spanco Nagpur Discom Limited (SNDL) red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 12,000. Both have been placed under arrest.
The unidentified complainant was caught by Vigilance Squad of SNDL for using electricity directly from a pole. The electricity stealer was scared by the Junior Engineer Pranab Manoranjan Biswas (34) and the Technician Shrikant Rajpal Lokhande (26) that he will have to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh for his illegal act. But when the complainant pleaded for reducing the fine amount the Junior Engineer and Technician reduced it to Rs 20,000. In return, Biswas and Lokhande demanded bribe of Rs 15,000 from the complainant for the favour. With no intention to pay the bribe the complainant approached the ACB sleuths and tipped them off about the bribe demand.
Acting on the complaint, the ACB sleuths laid a trap in the premises of Nagpur Municipal Corporation as the accused had called the complainant there to hand over the bribe amount. During the trap, the ACB sleuths found the Junior Engineer Pranab Manoranjan Biswas and the Technician Shrikant Rajpal Lokhande, both attached to Tulshibagh Sub-Division of SNDL, demanding Rs 15,000 as bribe but settling for Rs 12,000. As soon as the accused pocketed the bribe amount, the ACB sleuths caught them red-handed.
Sadar police booked both the accused under Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and placed them under arrest.
