Jabalpur, March 25 (IANS) The Lokayukta police of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday said it has arrested a woman RTO constable and one of her private male aides for allegedly taking bribes from a vehicle owner.
The action came when the constable and her aide were caught red-handed while accepting Rs 4,500 bribe on the Jabalpur-Nagpur Highway under the pretext of facilitating the vehicle’s passage.
A complaint regarding the demand for money was filed with the Lokayukta by Prashant Dattatray Jadhav Jeevansagar, a vehicle owner from Mumbai.
Acting on the complaint, the Lokayukta team set up a trap operation and apprehended the female constable, Shweta Ahirwar, and Mohit Sahu while they were accepting the bribe.
A senior official of the Lokayukta police said the investigation substantiated the allegations, confirming the veracity of the complaint.
Consequently, on March 25, Ahirwar and Sahu were caught red-handed accepting the bribe of Rs 4,500 from the vehicle driver.
The officer added that further legal proceedings are being initiated against both individuals.
The officer added that the amount was demanded to facilitate the passage of approximately 10 trucks from the jurisdiction of Bargi police station in Jabalpur district.
The arrested persons have been booked under Sections 7, 12, 13(1)B, and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. During the investigation, Lokayukta police found that both individuals had been consistently extorting money from passing vehicles.
Madhya Pradesh’s RTO department had hit the headlines after 52 kilograms of gold and piles of cash amounting to Rs 10 crore were recovered from Saurabh Sharma, an ex-RTO constable, in January last year from Bhopal.
The multi-layer scam was investigated by multiple agencies, including the Lokayukta, ED and the Income Tax Department.
Saurabh and his two associates, Chetan Singh Gaur and Sharad Jaiswal, were arrested.
–IANS
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