ACB sleuths catches VA accepting bribe for changing account

Puttur: Anti-Corruption Bureau officials caught a government official red-handed while he was receiving a bribe in Puttur. The accused is identified as Durgappa (24), village accountant of Ramakunja and Haleneranki village in Kadaba taluk.

Durgappa, who is responsible as the VA for two villages including Ramakunja and Haleneranki, is originally from Battanahalli in Kudlagi taluk of Bellary district and was caught red-handed while receiving bribe from Sharat P N, a resident of Kapikad in Haleneranki.

The cause

On Feb 20^th, Sharath had submitted an application for transferring the land from his uncle’s account to his own account. On Sep 12^th, a notice was sent to the applicant. Later, the VA Durgappa, demanded Rs 20,000 as bribe from the applicant for changing the account.

Although the applicant provided Rs 5,000 of the demand, the VA Durgappa kept pressurizing the applicant for more money. Finally, he insisted that Rs 8,000 be given as bribe. In this backdrop, Sharath submitted a complaint to the ACB.

The arrest

Durgappa, who was pestering Sharath for the remaining Rs 3,000 on Thursday, took the latter on his bike to Puttur town main road and was caught red-handed by the ACB sleuths while he was receiving the bribe near Karnataka bank here. The bribe cash has been seized and investigation is ongoing.