Purnia co-op officer caught taking bribe

Patna: Vigilance sleuths on Tuesday arrested district cooperative officer (DCO), Purnia, Sandeep Kumar on the charge of accepting Rs 25,000 as bribe from a contractor. Thakur, who was allegedly caught accepting the bribe at his office in Purnia, would be produced before the special vigilance court in Patna within 24 hours. DSP (vigilance) Munna Kumar, who led the trap, said the action was taken on the basis of a complaint lodged by one Mohammad Mahboob Alam against Thakur on July 26. “Thakur had sought Rs 25,000 as bribe from Alam to clear a payment of Rs 3 lakh,” the DSP said, adding that Alam was engaged in construction of a rice godown in the district for the cooperative department. He said Alam was earlier paid Rs 7.2 lakh, out of his total bill of Rs 10.2 lakh, for construction work. The rest Rs 3 lakh was not being cleared. On Tuesday, as Thakur was receiving Rs 25,000 from Alam, the vigilance team raided his cabin and arrested him. The arrested DEO is a resident of Korhara in Banka.