Hyderabad: Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on Monday caught two Nizamabad Municipal Corporation employees allegedly accepting a Rs 15,000 bribe for processing pension-related service records.
The Nizamabad bribe trap involved Palda Ashok, a junior assistant in the corporation’s Establishment Section, and Kalakuntla Kiran Kumar, an outsourcing employee in the Audit Section.
The ACB identified Ashok as AO-1 and Kiran Kumar as AO-2 in the case. According to the agency, its officials trapped the two employees at about 11.18 am at Padmashali Sangam in Seetharamnagar Colony.
The location was near Raja Rajendra Chowrastha in Nizamabad. The ACB alleged that the two employees had demanded Rs 15,000 from the complainant for pension-related official work. They allegedly sought the money for preparing increment proceedings concerning the complainant’s mother.
In addition, the work involved making necessary entries and recording other details in her service book. The ACB said those changes would help facilitate the sanction of her monthly pension.
Nizamabad bribe trap involved Rs 15,000 payment
According to the ACB, Ashok and Kiran Kumar allegedly accepted the Rs 15,000 payment while handling their official duties. The agency described the payment as an undue advantage connected with the service-record work.
The complainant had approached the officials regarding the records required for processing the mother’s pension. The alleged demand covered preparation of increment proceedings and updates to the service book.
Moreover, the officials allegedly linked the payment to completing entries and other required details in the records. ACB personnel then carried out the Nizamabad bribe trap at Padmashali Sangam on Monday morning.
The agency said it caught both accused employees while they allegedly accepted the amount. However, the ACB did not disclose the complainant’s identity. Officials withheld the identity for security reasons, according to the agency.
The case concerned work connected with the complainant’s mother rather than a pension claim in the complainant’s own name. The ACB said the officials had allegedly sought the payment to complete the records needed to facilitate her monthly pension.
ACB arrested both accused after Nizamabad bribe trap
Following the operation, ACB officials arrested Ashok and Kiran Kumar. Ashok worked as a junior assistant in the Establishment Section of the Nizamabad Municipal Corporation. Meanwhile, Kiran Kumar worked as an outsourcing employee in the corporation’s Audit Section.
The agency said it had taken both accused into custody after the trap. Subsequently, officials began the process of producing them before the II Additional Special Judge for trial of SPE and ACB cases at Nampally in Hyderabad.
The ACB said its investigation into the case continued. The agency had accused both employees of accepting an undue advantage while carrying out work linked to their official responsibilities.
The alleged Rs 15,000 payment related specifically to increment proceedings, service-book entries and other details required for pension processing.
The ACB said those records concerned the complainant’s mother and were intended to facilitate sanction of her monthly pension. The agency continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged demand and acceptance of the money.