The complainant called up the ACB helpline as he was not willing to pay any money; Pratap Singh Rajput (in pic) was caught accepting the bribe.
This is a case that may break the record for one of the lowest-ever bribes. A government official from Jalgaon has been arrested for accepting Rs 30 as bribe. A Talati (revenue clerk) was arrested on Thursday after a job aspirant lodged a complaint that he had demanded Rs 30 from him.
According to the police, the incident took place in Jalgaon, the native town of state Revenue Minister, Eknath Khadse. According to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officers, they received a complaint against a revenue clerk Pratap Singh Babu Singh Rajput, 57, who is from Yawal in Jalgaon.
"Rajput had demanded a bribe from a job aspirant who had just completed his Bachelor of Arts (BA) and was applying for jobs.
He belonged to a backward caste and had a caste certificate, but needed a non-creamy layer certificate for which the sub-divisional officer had asked him to submit the income certificate of his father for the last three years," D D Gaware, Deputy Superintendent of ACB, Jalgaon.
When the complainant, along with his three friends, approached Rajput, he demanded Rs 100 per head from all of them to obtain the certificates. This figure was negotiated down to Rs 30 per head.
The complainant called up the ACB helpline, as he was not willing to pay any money.
"On his phone call, we verified his complaint and trapped Rajput when he was accepting R30 from the complainant. Rajput has been arrested by the ACB in 2006 when he was accepting Rs 400 as bribe," said Gaware.
The ACB officers said the amount is not important for them but the fact that a person has accepted a bribe makes him an accused.
In 2014, the ACB had arrested a clerk with the Dhule District and Sessions court for accepting R50 to provide a certified copy of an application.