CBI traps nationalised bank official in Rs 10,000 bribery case

Bhopal: An assistant manager of a nationalised bank was arrested red-handed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 for approving banking kiosks.Abhyankar Sharma was posted as assistant manager at the regional office of the Bank in Shahdol.According to CBI officials, the action followed a complaint by Deependra Singh, a resident of Shahdol, who had applied for permission to open four banking kiosks in the district. During the approval process, Sharma allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 to clear the proposal and issue the required permissions.Unable to cope with the repeated demand for a bribe, the complainant approached the CBI’s Jabalpur unit and submitted a complaint to the superintendent of police.

After verifying the allegations, the CBI laid a trap on Thursday. The complainant allegedly handed over the bribe money to the accused near a gurudwara outside the bank premises.Officials said the CBI team, which had been keeping surveillance, immediately apprehended Sharma after he accepted the money. The bribe amount was recovered during the operation.The accused has been taken into custody and is being questioned. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against him, officials said.Sources said the accused is a native of Gwalior, following which the CBI also conducted searches at his residence there as part of the investigation. Further probe into the matter is underway.