Bribery case: Vigilance sleuths lay trap to nab Darrang DICC official

Guwahati: The Assam directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption, on Tuesday, arrested a top official of the district industries and commerce centre (DICC), Darrang, after he was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe from the complainant.

The directorate received a complaint that Hemanta Kumar Talukder, general manager of the district industries and commerce centre, Darrang, demanded Rs 15,000 as bribe from the complainant for sanctioning a loan to the complainant under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) scheme.

Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant had approached the directorate to take the necessary legal action against the public servant.

“Accordingly, a trap was laid today by a team from the directorate at Mangaldoi, near the office of Talukder, who was caught red-handed immediately after accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the complainant at 2.45 pm,” an official statement said on Tuesday.

The bribe money was seized from Talukder’s possession in the presence of independent witnesses.

A case has been registered at Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) police station on Tuesday vide ACB police station case number – 12/2022 under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988( as amended in 2018) against Talukder.

“Necessary legal follow up action is underway,” an official said.

The arrest of a public servant in a bribery case is just one instance.

The vigilance and anti-corruption directorate have nabbed many top-ranked government officials in such cases across Assam based on complaints over the past few months.

Last month, a food safety officer was caught taking a bribe after a trap was laid at the office of the director of health services in Nagaon.

In February, a superintendent of taxes posted in Morigaon and his ‘close confidante’ was arrested in a bribery case. 

In the same month, a senior assistant of the Assam agriculture department here was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from the complainant.

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