PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
The Uttarakhand Vigilance department shared that they had conducted 21 traps cases this year and caught 26 accused red-handed while accepting bribes. These included six gazetted and 20 non-gazetted officers from various departments. The director, Vigilance, V Murugesan said that around Rs six lakh had been recovered as bribe money during these trap cases.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Murugesan further informed that about 470 vigilance-related complaints had been received on the 1064 toll-free vigilance number, along with nearly 2,000 non-vigilance complaints. Based on these complaints, 14 cases were registered and 17 accused were arrested while taking bribes. “We also took six cases to the court in which three accused were convicted in corruption cases and three were released during this year,” he added.
Murugesan further said that during the year, the department had disposed of 28 cases, which included trap cases, open inquiries and investigation. In 20 cases, intelligence was collected and inquiries were conducted into disproportionate assets. Recommendations were also sent to the government for registering cases.
The department received 2,209 complaints in 2025 through the toll-free number and websites. Action was taken on several complaints, including trap action and departmental inquiries, the senior officials said. The senior superintendent of police, Vigilance, Prahlad Narayan Meena said that the government has also set up a revolving fund to return trap money to complainants. So far, 15 complainants have been refunded Rs 2.27 lakh.
Meena said that its future focus would be on quick disposal of pending cases, better coordination with central agencies and training of staff. To spread awareness against corruption, public awareness programmes will also be organised. An anti-corruption helpline number has been issued for the mountainous districts to help people report corruption easily, he said.
