A revenue official was caught red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000 from a businessman to dispose of an encroachment case in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district on Wednesday, an official said.
A case against the businessman for encroaching on government land was pending in the court of tehsildar and Rajendra Soni, a patwari, had demanded a bribe of Rs 50,000 to deal with it, Lokayukta inspector Abhishek Verma said.
Lokayukta officials caught Soni while accepting the first installment of the bribe from the complainant in Pavai town of the district, he said.
However, Soni claimed that he was innocent and he had taken the money as a donation for the construction of a temple in town and had also given a receipt to the complainant.
A case has been registered in this regard and further investigations are underway, the official said.
