Date:07/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/07/stories/2008100757950100.htm

New Delhi

15 Delhi officials arrested for bribery

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: In a major crackdown, 17 employees of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the Delhi Government’s Labour Department, and the Delhi police have been booked by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi Government for allegedly demanding and receiving money from a man running a kiosk at Connaught Place in the heart of the Capital.

While 15 of the accused have been arrested, a hunt has been launched for the other two.

The Anti-Corruption Branch received a complaint from Shiv Kumar Tiwari alleging that some NDMC and Labour Department employees along with police personnel were extorting money from him on a monthly basis.

A florist, Shiv Kumar had also been running an eatery from his kiosk for the past few months and had applied for a licence.

“I earn about Rs.50,000 a month and had been paying nearly Rs.30,000 as bribe to different officials,” he alleged, adding that a betel-shop owner, Chandeshwar Prasad Yadav, and his brother Shakal Prasad acted as conduits for collecting the bribe amount from shopkeepers.

Based on the complaint, the Anti-Corruption Branch carried out a sting operation against the accused officials over a month. About a month ago, the ACB had arrested 13 MCD engineers.