Indore : A Lok Ayukta team nabbed a peon red-handed while taking bribe from a petitioner in a court case at the Collectorate office, on Monday. The peon had called the man with the first installment of bribe on the orders of a clerk of the SDM. Both the clerk and the peon were released on bond.
Sandeep Ojha, a resident of Harihar Nagar, lodged a complaint with Lok Ayukta office on September 19 about the SDM’s Reader’s demand for money to give the verdict in his favour in a case concerning his brother. He informed that a case about a land dispute between his brother Pankaj Ojha and certain Kamalkishore Solanki was pending at the SDM court. SDM’s clerk Lalit Joshi had asked Ojha to give a bribe of Rs 50,000 to get the verdict in his favour. When he told that he did not have that money, he was asked to give half the amount. Then he was instructed to meet the peon, Mahesh Varma for the same. After talking to Varma, the first installment of Rs 5000 was finalised.
According to Lok Ayukta DSP Daulat Singh Gurjar, a trap had been laid after the complaint from Ojha. Ojha was made to go to the Collectorate office with the money. The Lok Ayukta team was hiding there. As soon as peon Varma took the bribe from Ojha, he was nabbed red-handed. The bribe amount was recovered from his pockets. After catching Varma, clerk Lalit Joshi was also arrested.
The duo were released on bond after imposing sections 7, 13(1) D, 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2013 and section 120 B of the IPC on them. A case has been registered and investigation is going on.
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