SRINAGAR: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested a Naib Tehsildar Ashok Sharma in a trap case while accepting Rs 1.5 lakh for issuance of Fard documents and Rs 9 lakh from a tout Raman Gupta, Akhnoor in Jammu district.
An ACB spokesman said that the they received a complaint against Ashok Sharma, Naib Tehsildar, and his associates for demanding a bribe of Rs 25 lakh for issuing Fard documents.
The ACB said that the complainant alleged that he had applied for issuance of Fard for 1 kanal 19 marlas land under Khasra No 440/299 at Mawa Karora, Sungal Morh, Akhnoor in the name of his wife before the then Patwari Halqa Akhnoor Khas, Ravinder Bhagat.
It alleged that Patwari Ravinder Bhagat and Naib Tehsildar, Ashok Sharma, who were at that time posted in the area, approached the complainant through their tout Raman Gupta and asked for a bribe of Rs 30 lakh for the issuance of Fard.
“Both contacted the complainant and on negotiation, the amount was settled at Rs 25 lakh. Thereafter, both the Patwari and the Naib Tehsildar were transferred out of that place, but the amount of Rs 25 lakh was still being demanded by Naib Tehsildar Ashok Sharma from the complainant,” the ACB spokesman said.
He said that the Fard was prepared as the complainant had received a soft copy through WhatsApp from Chiku Gupta, the buyer of the land as the soft copy of the Fard was sent to Chiku by the tout Raman Gupta. The spokesman said that the original copy of the Fard, which was stated to be retained by the Naib Tehsildar Ashok Sharma, was not being provided to the complainant as the Naib Tehsildar Ashok Sharma was demanding the bribe money of Rs 25 lakh.
He said that the Naib Tehsildar demanded to pay the amount of bribe in parts, though he would provide Fard only after getting the full amount of Rs 25 lakh. The spokesman said that the complainant alleged that he had been asked by the Naib Tehsildar to bring at least Rs 1.50 lakh.
He said that following this, the complainant approached ACB for appropriate action against the officials. The ACB spokesman said that following the complaint, a case FIR No 6 of 2022 was registered at Police Station ACB Central against the accused under Section 7, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 read with PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 and Sec 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.
The spokesman said that a trap was laid during which the accused Naib Tehsildar presently posted at Gharota was caught red-handed while demanding and accepting the bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from the complainant. He said that the ACB team arrested him on the spot and recovered bribe money from his possession in presence of independent witnesses.
The spokesman said that searches were also conducted in the residential houses of all the accused persons and Rs 9 lakh was seized from Raman Gupta of Akhnoor.
