Deputy Chief Minister MAnish Sisodia also sounded a warning to all government servants, saying the government will not tolerate corruption.
New Delhi:
The government had been keeping an eye for long on the senior bureaucrat arrested yesterday in a graft case, but there was no evidence against him, Delhi's deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said today.
The officer he referred to was Sanjay Pratap Singh, the Principal Secretary of the Department of Welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities in the Delhi government.
"We had heard about SP Singh. But no solid information was coming our way. We were keeping an eye on him," said Mr Sisodia, whose party won the Delhi elections earlier this year with anti-corruption as a key plank.
"I had conducted a surprise visit recently to his office. He had hired one guard but shown two guards on paper. "We wanted to make sure that this time the officer gets caught, not a junior who was taking bribe on his behalf," Mr Sisodia said.
Action could finally be taken when one JK Vishwas, whose firm provides security guards to the transport department, approached Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The government notified the Central Bureau of Investigation and the officer was arrested after the agency laid a trap. "We got a video recording done showing how the account officer was taking money. The video clip shows that he insists on Rs 2 lakh as bribe," said Mr Vishwas.
Appearing before the media with Mr Sisodia, Mr Vishwas said the bureaucrat would ask for a bribe every time bills were cleared. "Whenever I went to clear bills, he would ask for over Rs 1 lakh bribe and then pass bills."
Taking a dig at the Central government, Mr Sisodia said, "These guys snatched the Anti-Corruption Branch from us. If the ACB was with us, we would have arrested him much earlier
The Deputy Chief Minister sounded a warning to all government servants, saying the government will not tolerate corruption. "We are very serious about this issue," he added.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Mr Singh, an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1984 batch, had allegedly demanded Rs. 2.2 lakh from Mr Vishwas,
The officer he referred to was Sanjay Pratap Singh, the Principal Secretary of the Department of Welfare of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities in the Delhi government.
"We had heard about SP Singh. But no solid information was coming our way. We were keeping an eye on him," said Mr Sisodia, whose party won the Delhi elections earlier this year with anti-corruption as a key plank.
"I had conducted a surprise visit recently to his office. He had hired one guard but shown two guards on paper. "We wanted to make sure that this time the officer gets caught, not a junior who was taking bribe on his behalf," Mr Sisodia said.
Action could finally be taken when one JK Vishwas, whose firm provides security guards to the transport department, approached Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The government notified the Central Bureau of Investigation and the officer was arrested after the agency laid a trap. "We got a video recording done showing how the account officer was taking money. The video clip shows that he insists on Rs 2 lakh as bribe," said Mr Vishwas.
Appearing before the media with Mr Sisodia, Mr Vishwas said the bureaucrat would ask for a bribe every time bills were cleared. "Whenever I went to clear bills, he would ask for over Rs 1 lakh bribe and then pass bills."
Taking a dig at the Central government, Mr Sisodia said, "These guys snatched the Anti-Corruption Branch from us. If the ACB was with us, we would have arrested him much earlier
The Deputy Chief Minister sounded a warning to all government servants, saying the government will not tolerate corruption. "We are very serious about this issue," he added.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Mr Singh, an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1984 batch, had allegedly demanded Rs. 2.2 lakh from Mr Vishwas,
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