J&K pollution control board official held accepting bribe

Srinagar, January 8

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday arrested an officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Board in Srinagar on charges of demanding and taking a bribe.

According to ACB, Bilquees Ara, a scientist in the Pollution Control Board (PCB), was arrested while taking Rs 5000 bribe from a complainant for issuing ‘Consent to Operate’ (CTO) a bakery unit located in Industrial Estate at Khonmoh.

The ACB said the complainant had applied for the consent in November last year but the accused officer was “unnecessarily delaying the matter”.

“It was further alleged that on January 6, the complainant visited the accused at the PCB office and requested her to process his case. She demanded Rs 20,000 as bribe from the complainant for issuance of CTO. However, after negotiation the amount was settled at Rs 5,000,” the ACB said.

It said the complainant chose not to give the bribe and reported the matter to the ACB which constituted a trap team.

The ACB team caught the accused public servant red handed while demanding and taking the bribe amount of Rs 5,000 from the complainant. The money was recovered from the accused on the spot, the agency said.