FIR lodged against SP for offering bribe to UP minister

AN FIR was lodged against the superintendent of Barabanki district jail on Wednesday for allegedly trying to bribe Uttar Pradesh’s Minister of State for Prisons Jai Kumar Singh “Jacky” by leaving a packet of Rs 50,000 at his official residence in Lucknow on Tuesday night.

Police said the complainant Saurabh Kumar, a police constable who is part of the minister’s security detail, has not mentioned the reason behind the superintendent approaching the minister with the alleged bribe. The FIR against the jail superintendent Umesh Kumar Singh has been filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act at Hazratganj police station.

The state prisons headquarters too has ordered a departmental inquiry against Singh, who has denied making any such attempt or visiting the minister’s residence.

Abhay Kumar Mishra, the investigating officer and circle officer of Hazratganj, said the complainant stated that Singh went to the minister’s residence at Dalibagh colony in a drunken state on Tuesday night.

The complainant has said that when the minister inquired why the superintendent was there, Singh did not reply and when the minister scolded him, he exited, leaving behind a packet in the room, Mishra said.

The constable has stated that they found Rs 50,000 in cash inside it, he said.