Madikeri: Two employees of the Madikeri public works department were simultaneously trapped in two different districts while they were allegedly taking bribes on Friday. Lokayukta teams trapped the officials and caught them red-handed in Madikeri and Mysuru.According to Lokayukta authorities, PWD employees working in Madikeri, manager Vaidyanath and second-division assistant (SDA) Somanna, had demanded a bribe from suspended employee Sharat, a Group D worker, to process the file that would reinstate him to work. Sharat was earlier caught by Lokayukta sleuths while allegedly receiving a bribe in Feb and was under suspension.Following a complaint from Sharat, Lokayukta sleuths laid traps and caught the employees red-handed. The manager and SDA delayed the process of putting up the file to reinstate him to work. The duo, according to Sharat, had demanded an Rs 10k bribe from him and later settled for Rs 8k. Sharat, after paying an advance of Rs 3k to Vaidyanath and Rs 2k to Somanna, promised them to pay the remaining amount. He later approached Lokayukta police and lodged a complaint against the duo.A team led by Lokayukta DSP Dinakar Shetty arrested Vaidyanath in Madikeri while he was allegedly receiving the bribe, and Somanna was trapped by another team in Mysuru.
