Gujarat: Jamnagar SDM caught taking Rs 1.6 lakh bribe

Sub-magistrate of Dhrol taluka of Jamnagar district, Dinesh Hadia was arrested by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Rajkot after he was allegedly caught taking Rs 1.6 lakh bribe for clearing a land-related file, early on Thursday morning.

Hadia was detained from his apartment in government staff quarters in Dhrol by ACB after he was caught red-handed while accepting bribe from Rajnikant Tankaria. The ACB detained the officer from his residence at 8:10 and formally arrested him at 2 pm.

Field police inspector of Rajkot division of ACB, Himanshu Doshi said the SDM had demanded bribe to clear an application seeking conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural (NA).

“Jenti Patel, a resident of Morbi had applied to convert his 20,000 square feet of agricultural land in Pithad village of Jodia taluka into NA. He had asked his friend Rajnikant Tankaria, a resident of Dhrol to helm the file get cleared. When Tankaria met Hadia, the officer demanded Rs 1.6 lakh bribe to give a favourable opinion for NA,” Doshi told The Indian Express.

However, instead of paying the bribe, Tankaria filed a police complaint with ACB police station in Rajkot on Tuesday.

“As agreed, Tankaria went to Hadia’s residence to pay the bribe. We had laid the trap and the SDM was caught,” the PI further said.

During search of Hadia’s residence, ACB also found Rs 3.37 lakh cash.

“The officer has admitted that he owns houses in Rajkot, Vadodara and Ahmedabad. We have seized the bribe amount of Rs1.6 lakh and Rs3.37 lakh additional cash to check if it is unaccounted,” Doshi added.

The ACB has booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and started further investigation.

Source:: Indian Express