The Lokayukta police on Saturday caught a senior official of a district cooperative bank while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from his subordinate in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district, an official said.
DR Sarothia (59), the general manager of the District Central Cooperative Bank, had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 3 lakh from the manager of the bank's Kalivedi branch for sanctioning money to beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), a crop insurance scheme for farmers, Indore Lokayukta police senior official Anand Yadav said.
Earlier, Val Singh, the manager of the District Central Co-operative Bank's Kalivedi branch, had given Rs 1.50 lakh bribe to Sarothia, following which he lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta police and presented a recording in which the accused official was asking for the bribe, the official said.
A trap was laid and Sarothia was caught accepting the remaining Rs 1.50 lakh at his official residence in Pilli Koti, he said.
A case has been registered under section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2018, Yadav said.
While the accused has not been arrested, he has given an undertaking to cooperate with the probe, Mr Yadav said.
At least 180 farmers from Jhabua and Alirajpur were to be benefitted from the insurance scheme, and Sarothia was in charge of both the districts, he added.
