The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau on Saturday trapped and arrested a revenue official for demanding and accepting a bribe in Budgam district, officials said.
According to officials, ACB received a written complaint alleging that the complainant had applied before the concerned revenue authorities for issuance of a revenue extract and bank lien certificate for a property situated at Rakh Soothu BK Pora for bank guarantee purposes. The complainant alleged that the concerned Patwari of Halqa Rakh Soothu, identified as Riyaz Ahmad Khan, demanded a bribe ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000 for preparing and providing the required documents instead of processing the case in a lawful manner.
The complainant, expressing his resolve to oppose corruption, approached ACB Srinagar seeking legal action against the accused official. Officials said a discreet verification was conducted following the complaint, which confirmed the demand of bribe by the public servant.
Subsequently, FIR No. 02/2026 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was registered at Police Station ACB Srinagar and investigation was taken up.
During the investigation, a trap team was constituted which laid a successful trap and caught the accused Patwari red handed while demanding and accepting a bribe amount of Rs 10,000 from the complainant. After completing all necessary medico legal formalities, the accused public servant was taken into custody.
Officials said further investigation is underway to ascertain if the accused was involved in similar acts earlier and to identify any other officials, if involved.
