MP Lokayukta Arrests Raisen Municipality Officials For Demanding ₹1 Lakh Bribe From Contractor

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Lokayukt on Friday arrested two staff members of Raisen municipality and chief municipal officer for demanding bribe of Rs 1 lakh for releasing the safety deposit of a contractor. An FIR has been registered against them under Prevention of Corruption Act, officials said.

Officials said complainant Rajesh Mishra, a government contractor constructed a cremation ghat in Raisen in 2021 for which he received payment in 2023. However, he was still to get back his safety deposit of cash Rs 3.50 lakh. 

The chief municipal officer Badri Prasad Sharma demanded Rs 1 lakh from Rajesh to release safety deposit. Rajesh made a complaint in this connection to Bhopal Lokayukta police following which an investigation was carried out by Lokayukt police superintendent, Bhopal Division, Suryakant Awasthi. Probe revealed that Badri Prasad Sharma and two other municipality employees Shubham Jain and Jai Kumar forced contractor to give Rs 1 lakh as bribe.

On Friday, a team under deputy SP Sanjay Shukla and Virendra Singh laid a trap and asked Rajesh to call the trio to Bhopal for taking the bribe. Badri Prasad, Shubham Jain and Jai Kumar were caught red- handed by the trap team while they were accepting two cheques of Rs 40,000 and Rs 60,000 from the contractor.