ACB arrests forest ranger, seizes ₹99 lakh from his home

Jamshedpur: The Jamshedpur division of Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested a forest ranger officer on charges of taking bribe and also seized around Rs 99 lakh from his official residence at Manoharpur in West Singhbum during a raid.
The ranger was identified as Vijay Kumar, who is posted in Porahat-Anandpur range at Chakradharpur in West Singhbhum district, ACB DIG Shailendra Kumar Sinha said. “His computer operator (Manish Poddar), who worked at Kunar’s office, has also been arrested,” the DIG said.
The raid was carried out based on a written complaint lodged by a local resident named Ganesh Parmanik on April 11. In his complaint, Parmanik alleged that the ranger had demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 from him for obtaining permission for shifting his old furniture from his house in Manoharpur to Jamshedpur, the ACB said in a press statement.
Led by ACB DP Samir Kumar Tirkey, the anti-corruption sleuths retrieved Rs 2,500 from the ranger’s possession. “He was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe amount,” the ACB statement read.
Subsequently, during a search conducted at his residence, ACB found Rs 99.2 lakh in cash.
A senior forest official of Dalma division said that permission from the forest office is required only for shifting/transportation of the wildlife. "For movement of processed wood from the forest zone to outside no permission is required," said the official requesting anonymity.