Indore: West Discom engineer caught accepting Rs 10,000 bribe

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A junior engineer of Madhya Pradesh West Zone Electricity Distribution Company and his driver were caught red-handed while accepting an amount of Rs 10,000 as a bribe on Tuesday. The engineer had sought a bribe for closing a case of power pilferage.

A vigilance team of West Discom had found Azad Nagar resident Sujad Khan to be involved in power pilferage case. He was slapped with Rs 83,000 fine. As he did not pay the fine amount during a period of 15 days, power supply to his house was discontinued.

Later, Khan deposited Rs 30,000 in the West Discom office after which supply was restored.

For closing the power pilferage case against him, West Discom junior engineer Gaya Prasad Verma, who is posted at Daly College Zone, had sought a bribe of Rs 40,000 from Khan through his driver Ghiyasuddin.

To this, Khan approached Lokayukta police and informed about the corrupt engineer. Lokayukta sleuths laid a trap to nab Verma red-handed. On suggestion of the sleuths, Khan called up Verma and agreed to pay Rs 40,000 to him in installments.

As part of first installment, Khan went to Verma with Rs 10,000 in cash. As Verma accepted the amount, Lokayukta sleuths standing nearby in civil dress caught Verma and his driver red-handed.

The accused were booked under Section-7 of the Prevention of Corruption Amendment Act 2018 and Section 120B of IPC.