Tirupati: Demonetisation has come as a boon for corrupt officials with demands for the new Rs 2,000 notes as bribe.
The recent ACB traps in Chittoor district where three government officials were caught red-handed separately in a week has brought to the fore the deep-rooted corruption in government departments.
After demonetisation of big notes, the three officials, who are working in key departments, were arrested while taking new currency notes.
It may be recalled on November 22, ACB officials caught Kalakada mandal tehsildar Vadde Narayanamma while demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 20,000, all in Rs 2,000 new currency, for doing an official favour of making changes in the passbooks.
The very next day, on November 23 ACB sleuths caught Irrigation Department's Deputy Executive Engineer T. Satyanarayana Reddy in Chittoor taking Rs 20,000 as bribe from a contractor, once again in new currency of Rs 2,000 denomination.
On November 26, ACB sleuths caught an Excise and Prohibition CI L. Rangareddy, demanding and accepting Rs 40,000 as bribe from a wine shop owner in Punganur.
According to ACB DSP A. Sankar Reddy, the officials who were booked under bribery charges demanded only Rs 2,000 notes and were reluctant to take banned notes.
“After the banning of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency, the officials, who take bribes, are specifically asking for Rs 2,000 notes. When the complainant K. Peddireddy said he did not have either the new Rs 2,000 or Rs 100 notes, excise CI Rangareddy demanded only Rs 2,000 notes, as it fits neatly in the pocket. We laid a trap and caught him red-handed after he took the notes and kept it in his pant pocket. After the demonetisation the three incidents of ACB traps took place in Chittoor district, which also reveals that the people are fed up with corrupt officials and coming forward to register a complaint to the ACB,” said the DSP.
During this year ACB has registered 10 cases wherein two cases the accused have been punished by the ACB court, he said.
The two accused were dismissed from services by the government, he said. In 2014, ACB registered 10 cases where all the accused were convicted. Of the total nine cases registered in 2015, in seven cases the accused were punished and the two cases which were dismissed by the ACB court have been filed for appeal in the High Court, he said.
He asked the people not yield to the pressure of government officials, who demand a bribe to perform their official duties and instead they should approach the ACB officials immediately to bring the corrupt officials to book.
