Gurez: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested a forester “red-handed” while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from a contractor in the Budugam area of Tulail in north Kashmir’s Gurez valley.
News agency GNS quoted a top ACB official saying that Mohd Sultan Bhat, the Incharge Block Forester of Budugam Tulail was arrested after being caught red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from a contractor.
He said, the contractor was involved in executing work in the remote area of Bandipora district under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scheme of the Government of India.
“The contractor had been facing obstacles due to the lack of forest clearance. The JJM scheme aims to provide safe and sufficient drinking water to rural households across India by 2024 and is currently being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir as well.”
The ACB swiftly launched an investigation after receiving a complaint regarding Bhat's corrupt activities. Acting on the information, ACB officials conducted a successful trap operation, catching Bhat in the act of accepting the bribe. Bhat has been taken into custody, he said.