3 VDA engineers arrested for taking Rs 25,000 bribe
Unit in charge Neeraj Singh said the team of sleuths, led by inspector Rajesh Kumar Yadav, arrested VDA officials AE Gaurav Singh, JE Ashok Kumar and associate engineer Anas while they were receiving Rs 25,000 as bribe in a car parked outside their Padav office on Saturday. The team handed the accused to Ramnagar police after lodging FIR against them, he added.
ACB officials said action was initiated based on a written complaint by Ramnagar native, Ajay Kumar Gupta.
In his complaint, Gupta alleged the VDA engineers were demanding bribe for building construction permits and cooperation.
As per the plan, Gupta went to pay the bribe amount to the trio, who asked him to meet them outside their office in Padav. They arrived the spot and called Gupta inside a car. As soon as they received the chemical-coated currency notes as bribe from Gupta, the ACB team apprehended them on the spot. The money was recovered and seized as evidence.
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The incident made another dent on VDA's image and its bid to become a professional agency, especially by ensuring an overhaul of its offices on the lines of corporate and private companies' offices and bringing transparency in many procedures, including the approval of maps online.
ACB urged citizens to report illegal demand made by any official or employee of any department. The unit in charge mentioned that the department maintained confidentiality in such cases and ensured necessary action was taken.
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