Kota: Kota wing of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Monday caught a contractual employee of Kota Municipal Corporation red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹10,000 outside the municipal offices, while another contractual staff member managed to flee the scene upon noticing the trap operation.According to Director General of Police (ACB) Govind Gupta, the bureau took action based on a complaint lodged before Additional Superintendent of Police (ACB Kota) Vijay Swarnkar. The complainant alleged that two contractual employees of Kota Municipal Corporation—Akhilesh Meena and Naresh Verma—demanded bribes out of the first instalment of ₹50,000 sanctioned for house construction under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The accused threatened that future instalments of the housing grant would be blocked if the bribe was not paid.Following the complaint, ACB verified the bribe demands on Oct 1. During verification, it was established that Akhilesh Meena had demanded ₹10,000, while Naresh Verma demanded ₹5,000 from the complainant.Once the bribery allegations were confirmed, an ACB team led by DSP Anish Ahmed laid a trap operation wherein Akhilesh Meena, a contractual employee, was caught red-handed outside Kota Municipal Corporation office while accepting ₹10,000 from the complainant. However, Naresh Verma got wind of the trap action and fled the spot.Interrogation of the arrested accused is currently underway. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered, and search operations are ongoing to trace and arrest the absconding suspect.
