Revenue employee, middleman held for taking Rs 10k bribe in Madhubani

Patna: Continuing its crackdown on corruption, the Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) on Wednesday arrested a revenue employee and a private middleman from the Benipatti circle office in Madhubani district for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 to clear encroachment from a land.The arrested have been identified as Saket Kumar Singh, a clerk posted at the Benipatti circle office, and Parmanand Jha, a private broker and resident of Dhagjari village under Arer police station area of Madhubani district. Officials said Singh had allegedly demanded Rs 30,000 from the complainant to get his land freed from encroachment, which was later negotiated and settled at Rs 15,000.According to the VIB, the complainant, Ravindra Yadav, son of Ram Narayan Yadav and a resident of Dahila village in Madhubani district, approached the bureau on April 21, alleging that he was being repeatedly harassed and made to run from one office to another.

He claimed that money was being demanded to carry out official work related to removal of encroachment from his land.Following the complaint, the VIB verified the allegations and found evidence indicating a demand for bribe. After the charges were found to be prima facie true, a case was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.A trap team was subsequently constituted under the supervision of deputy superintendent of police Samir Chandra Jha, investigating officer. During the operation, the team caught both the clerk and the middleman red-handed while accepting Rs 10,000 as part of the agreed bribe amount on the premises of the Benipatti circle office.Officials said both accused are being interrogated and will be produced before the special vigilance court in Muzaffarpur. Further investigation into the case is under way.