2 forest officials held for taking 35,000 bribe

Guwahati: A forester and a forest guard were arrested by the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption in Kokrajhar district on Friday for accepting a bribe of Rs 35,000 to settle a case.
Police said they received a complaint about the forester (Grade-II), Kamini Narzary, posted at the DFO’s office under Kachugaon division in Gossaigaon having demanded Rs 40,000 as bribe from the complainant for regularising a forest case.
Later, the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 35,000 by the accused.
However, unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the directorate to take necessary legal action against Narzary.
“Accordingly, a trap was laid by a team of the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption at Padma Beel area under the Gossaigaon police station where Narzary and a forest guard, Prabin Brahma, were caught red-handed accepting and counting the bribe amount in a roadside dhaba. The bribe money was seized from them in the presence of independent witnesses,” a police statement read.
The two have been arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) and Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code.