Corruption by EMI: Officials, Middlemen Accept Bribes in 'Instalments' in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Corrupt government officials as well as their middlemen are offering people the option of paying bribes in easy "instalments" in Gujarat, where at least 10 such cases have been reported so far this year though the ACB said there is nothing new in this practice.At least ten cases have been reported in Gujarat this year wherein government officials as well as their middlemen have demanded bribe money in instalments, officials of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said on Thursday.

According to ACB Director Shamsher Singh, this practice of taking bribes in "instalments" is not new and it has been going on since long.

"There is nothing new in it. Usually, the victim agrees to give the first instalment before the work is done and then gives the second after the work is done. But sometimes, they change their mind and approach the ACB instead of giving the second or any subsequent instalment," he explained.

In March, two persons, claiming to be working for Gujarat GST officials, had approached a mobile shop owner in Ahmedabad and demanded a bribe of Rs 21 lakh to settle a tax-related issue he was facing following a raid.

The shop owner agreed to pay Rs 2 lakh as the "first instalment" and the remaining sum in two instalments afterwards. The shop owner later changed his mind and approached the ACB, which laid a trap on March 30 and nabbed one of the two accused while accepting the first instalment of Rs 2 lakh, said an ACB release.

In April, a deputy sarpanch and a taluka panchayat member in Surat demanded Rs 80,000 from a farmer to get his work done. They were caught on April 4 while accepting the first instalment of Rs 35,000, it said.

During the same time, the ACB had arrested a police sub-inspector (PSI) of the state CID Crime in Gandhinagar for accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 from a person who was booked by the agency in a case.

The PSI had accepted Rs 10,000 in advance and agreed to take Rs 40,000 afterwards, said the release.

A royalty inspector of the state Mines and Minerals department in Narmada district agreed to take Rs 1 lakh bribe in two instalments after a truck driver expressed his inability to pay the amount in one go. The royalty inspector's middleman was nabbed by the ACB while accepting the first instalment of Rs 60,000 on April 26, said the release.