JAIPUR: The ACB arrested an official of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) from Delhi on Tuesday following a complaint that the accused was demanding bribe for giving franchise for issuing Aadhaar card. He was arrested while taking Rs 1 lakh bribe. The accused official was identified as 43-year-old Pankaj Goyal, an assistant director general in UIDAI. Goyal has been suspended and will not be allowed to leave the headquarters without permission, the ministry of electronics & information technology, UIDAI, said.
The complainant told TOI: “For setting up of e-mitra centres or Aadhaar card kiosks, we have to first apply to the district administration. The request is then sent to state IT department and then to UIDAI. I sent 15 such files which were yet to be cleared and though I had never met Goyal, I had been speaking to him on phone. He had asked for the bribe.”
On October 16, the complainant registered a case with Kota’s ACB unit and ASP Chandrasheel Thakur started the investigation. According to the complainant, the accused had asked for Rs 15,000 per file. The complainant had 14 files which were to be cleared and claimed that he did not want to pay the bribe. On October 19, the complainant called the accused who asked him to meet him at his office. He handed over the money to Goyal who kept the cash in his desk drawer. Cops arrested him after he accepted the money.