P&RD official lands in anti-corruption net

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, July 5: After the arrest of suspended divisiol forest officer (DFO) Mahat Talukdar and excise superintendent Jibon Chandra Phukan by sleuths of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (VAC) wing of Assam police, a junior engineer (JE) of the Panchayat & Rural Development department today landed in VAC net while accepting bribe in Hojai.  VAC sources said P&RD junior engineer Jayanta Goswami was caught red-handed in Hojai while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a beneficiary of an IAY house.

A VAC official said as the JE demanded Rs 10,000 from the beneficiary for allotting an IAY house to him, Girindra Prasad Mollah, an anchalik panchayat member filed a complaint to the VAC.   

The VAC sleuths laid a trap and asked the person to hand over the money to the JE. The IAY beneficiary met Goswami today and sleuths arrested him when was accepting the bribe. Subsequently the sleuths took Goswami to Block office and conducted a raid there. They also raided the parental house of Goswami at Hengerabari in Guwahati, besides his own house at Kahilipara area of the city.  The VAC wing has registered a case (No-6/2016) against Goswami in this connection.

This is the third case in recent times that a State government official has been arrested while accepting bribe.

Mahat Talukdar, the DFO of Dhemaji forest division, was caught while accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from three businessmen in his office on June 13, while Golaghat district excise superintendent Jibon Chandra Phukan was arrested red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 25,000 from Parinita Dutta, owner of a liquor bar in Bongaon.