Sarpanch, her husband and two aides held for taking bribe

Rajkot: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested the husband of a woman sarpanch from Bhuj taluka in Kutch district for accepting a bribe of Rs 3 lakh from an employee of a mines and mineral company to allow permission for industrial construction near the mines.
According to ACB officials, Kukma village sarpanch Kankuben Marwada and her husband Amrut Marwada demanded Rs 5 lakh from a company that owns mines in Kukma village for granting permission for carrying out construction near the mines. The firm had already paid Rs 1 lakh in bribe but the sarpanch and her husband were demanding Rs 4 lakh more. The firm’s management approached ACB and lodged a complaint against the couple.
“We laid a trap on Thursday evening in which the sarpanch was asked to collect Rs 4 lakh from the firm’s office in Bhuj. Amrut Marwada and his two aides — Ravji Bochiya and Ritesh Bochiya — came there and we caught them accepting Rs 4 lakh bribe. We also arrested woman sarpanch Kankuben Marwada on Friday,” an ACB official said.