On Saturday, an official in Srinagar was detained after he was accused of taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a complaint.
According to a statement released by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in J&K, the bureau received a written complaint from a man who claimed he had applied for the position of Lumberdar Mohura in Tehsil Office Boniyar and been declared a successful candidate after meeting all of the requirements.
“The complainant said that he had gone to Tehsildar Boniyar for the reception of the appointment order; however, the responsible Tehsildar directed him to speak with his clerk, Marefatul Haq. According to the document, “the complainant contacted the clerk, who initially demanded Rs 2,000 as a bribe for preparing and issuing his appointment order as Lumberdar Mohura.”
The complaint said that the complainant had paid Rs 2,000 to the relevant clerk under duress but had received no appointment order in return.
“It was also alleged in the complaint that he kept on visiting the office of the tehsildar for the issuance of an appointment order in his favour, but the concerned clerk started demanding Rs 10,000 more from the complainant for the preparation and issuance of the appointment order,” the document reads.
In light of the accused clerk’s demand for a bribe, the complainant reportedly went to the ACB with his complaint and asked for legal action to be taken against him.
According to the ACB statement, “a Case FIR No. 06/2023 was registered at Police Station ACB Baramulla under Section 7 of the PC Act 1988, and the investigation was initiated” because “the contents of the complaint prima facie disclose the commission of an offence punishable under Section 7 of the PC Act 1988 by accused public servant Marefatul Haq, clerk in the office of Tehsildar Boniyar.”
It said that a trap team was formed during the inquiry and that the accused clerk was caught in the act of asking for and taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the complainant at the Tehsil office in Boniyar.
After the proper procedures were followed, he was detained immediately. Because “he failed to account for the source of the money recovered from his possession,” the ACB confiscated suspicious packages totaling Rs 64,500 that were discovered during a personal search.
It was reported that searches were being done at the homes of the accused in Chandilora, Tangmarg, and Hamdania Colony, Bemina, as part of ongoing investigations into the matter.
