Wednesday, 03 JULY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Vigilance Establishment of the State on Tuesday caught the district excise officer of Udham Singh Nagar Ashok Kumar Mishra from his office in Rudrapur red-handed while accepting a bribe from a liquor contractor of Khatima. The officer was allegedly pestering the contractor for the past several days to bribe him for issuing the permit for his liquor business. The contractor had also allegedly paid the officer Rs 30,000 earlier but he was demanding Rs 70,000 more. Due to this, the contractor approached the Haldwani unit of Vigilance with the complaint against the excise officer last week. After preliminary investigation and verifying allegations against the officer, the Vigilance formed a trap team and caught the officer red-handed on Tuesday afternoon, the officials said. According to them, Vigilance had planned to take action against Mishra a few days ago but he reportedly went on leave. They said that Vigilance arrested the officer on Tuesday afternoon from his office and conducted inquiries about his movable and immovable properties. The team also deployed police outside his office and conducted a search at his home in Kashipur and other places, the officials said. The director of Vigilance, V Murugesan also announced a reward for the trap team. He said that if officers appointed in a government department demand bribes to discharge their official duties and have acquired illegal property disproportionate to their income, the Vigilance Establishment will take strict action against them. Those who know about such officers or employees can unhesitantly call the toll free helpline number 1064 and Whatsapp helpline number 9456592300 to inform about such corrupt practices.
