Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): A driver of Shahpura SDM was caught red-handed by the Jabalpur Lokayukta police while accepting a bribe of ₹1.5 lakh on Tuesday.
The driver, identified as Sunil Patel, demanded the bribe from farmer Sangram Singh to cancel a notice regarding the storage of basmati rice on his land.
The notice was issued after a site inspection by the tehsildar.
According to information, the incident took place in Khamdehi village, Shahpura. Farmer Sangram Singh’s relative owns one acre of land near the main road, where local farmers had stored basmati rice.
On October 28, Tehsildar Ravindra Patel inspected the site and issued a "show cause" notice from SDM Shahpura Bhitoni’s office, led by SDM Nadima Siree.
Sunil Patel contacted the farmer, initially demanding ₹3 lakh to settle the matter, later reducing it to ₹2.5 lakh.
Harassed by the repeated threats over 15 days, the farmer approached the Lokayukta police.
Based on the complaint, the Lokayukta team set a trap and arrested Sunil Patel at Dhanvantri Nagar Chowk, Jabalpur, while he was taking ₹1.5 lakh as the second installment.
He had already received ₹50,000 earlier. The team, led by DSP Dilip Jharbade, is now investigating Patel’s financial records to uncover potential illegal assets.
Quick Administrative Action Taken
Following the arrest, the administration suspended Sunil Patel with immediate effect. SDM Nadima Siree was also removed from her position after reports revealed that the bribery negotiations took place in her office.
Deputy Collector Kuldeep Parashar has been assigned charge of Shahpura.
Farmer Sangram Singh stated that Sunil Patel, who worked as a driver despite being an office assistant, had repeatedly threatened him, claiming the issue could only be resolved with the bribe.
DSP Dilip Jharbade confirmed Patel’s arrest under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018. Further investigations are underway to identify other individuals involved in the case.
