Patna: A block cooperative officer (BCO), posted in Nalanda’s Karai Parsurai block, was arrested by the Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) on Wednesday for allegedly accepting a Rs 28,000 bribe from a complainant seeking completion of the charge-handover process for a cooperative society manager’s post.The arrested officer, Santosh Kumar, was caught during a VIB trap at the Karai Parsurai block office after a complaint alleging that he had sought money for preparing and forwarding an inquiry report and a charge-handover report.According to VIB, the complaint was lodged by Abhishek Kumar, a resident of Sandh village in Karai Parsurai, who was appointed as a PACS manager. He alleged that the previous PACS manager had not handed over records and documents relating to the post.Following the dispute, Abhishek approached the Hilsa SDO, who directed the block cooperative officer to inquire into the matter and submit a report. The complainant later alleged that Santosh Kumar demanded a bribe to process the inquiry and facilitate the handover.After verifying the allegations and finding prima facie evidence of a bribe demand, vigilance police registered a case on Sept 22 and constituted a trap team led by DSP Rita Sinha.The team allegedly caught Santosh Kumar red-handed while accepting Rs 28,000 from the complainant. He will be questioned before being produced in the Special Vigilance Court in Patna. Further investigation is underway.
