Visakhapatnam: With the demonetising of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, tainted officials of different departments here are allegedly demanding gold as bribe for official favours. Though people thought they had got a brief spell of relief from bribery, it has just changed its form.
Sources said some officials of revenue, registration and police departments had started demanding gold instead of cash as bribe for doing officials favours after the Centre’s announcement of withdrawal of big notes citing that they may in soup over deposit of more money in the banks to exchange the old cash. Accepting gold is an age-old practice and it is safer than cash.
In 2015, officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau here booked 15 cases, of which 14 were trap cases and one was related to disproportionate assets. In 2014, the Vizag unit booked 22 trap cases, of which four were related to disproportionate assets.
In 2016 so far, 12 trap cases and six disproportionate assets cases were registered. “In most of the cases, we have found more gold than cash and it indicates that corrupt officials love gold than cash,” said a senior ACB official.
DSP of ACB Visakha Urban K. Ramakrishna Prasad said if they get a tip-off, they would coat the gold with chemicals and trap the tainted official.
