The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), continuing its relentless drive against corruption, today apprehended Vikas Jindal, Clerk posted at the office of District Education Officer (Elementary), Malerkotla, red handed while he was accepting a bribe of Rs. 20,000 from a teacher. According to an official spokesperson of the VB, the accused clerk had demanded Rs. 30,000 from a complainant of village Bagrian, district Malerkotla in lieu of for processing his pending allowances in the DEO office.
The complainant has alleged to the VB that said clerk had already taken Rs. 10,000 from him and demanding the remaining amount. He further informed that after a preliminary verification of this complaint a VB team from Patiala range laid a trap during which the accused clerk was nabbed while he was taking Rs 20000 as a second instalment of bribe from the complainant in the presence of two official witnesses and the tainted bribe money has been recovered on the spot.
In this regard a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered at VB Police Station Patiala Range. The accused would be produced in the competent court tomorrow and further investigation is underway, he said.
With a view to weed out the corrupt practices in the public offices, the VB has appealed to the public to report any instances of corruption through its helpline numbers or official channels and assured complete confidentiality would be maintained in such matters.