Udhampur, Oct 6 — The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested an employee of Jammu and Kashmir's Fire and Emergency Services for taking a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a Katra hotel owner who had applied for a fire no-objection certificate (NOC), central probe agency officials said.
Nitish Singh Jamwal, a fireman posted in the office of Udhampur Assistant Director of Fire and Emergency Services, was arrested red-handed in a trap laid by the CBI, an official said in a statement.
The CBI registered the case against Jamwal on Tuesday based on a complaint, wherein it was alleged that the accused fireman demanded a bribe of Rs 40,000 from the hotel owner, it said.
The fireman was demanding the bribe for processing and issuance of the fire and Emergency Services NOC for the complainant's hotel at Katra.
After negotiation, the accused agreed to accept Rs 15,000 from the complainant and he was arrested while taking the bribe money, the statement said.
The fireman's arrest comes close to the CBI apprehending two officials of the State Agriculture department last month for taking a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a government scheme's beneficiary, an official said.
Rajan Sharma, Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer (SDAO) of Agriculture Department, and Abhilashi Sharma, Agricultural Extension Assistant (AEA), were arrested along with Ashok Kumar, a private person, the CBI official said in a statement.
The CBI registered the case on September 19 against the accused on allegations that the accused Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer (SDAO) of the Agriculture Department demanded a bribe of Rs 35,000 from the complainant to release his subsidy under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) scheme.
The accused SDAO asked the complainant to hand over the bribe either to the AEA (Agricultural Extension Assistant) or to Ashok Kumar, the CBI said.
The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused Agricultural Extension Assistant (AEA) and the private person red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from the complainant.
Later, the CBI also arrested the third accused, a Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer, from his residence, the statement said.