Power dept officer caught taking 20,000 bribe from BJP councillor’s brother in Haridwar

HARIDWAR: The

Uttarakhand

vigilance department on Saturday caught the

SDO

of electricity department red-handed while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the elder brother of

Lokesh Pal

, a BJP councillor in Haridwar.

Lokesh Pal told TOI that his brother was asked to pay Rs 20,000 bribe to get his work done. The raid was conducted in Kankhal's SDO office following a complaint by Pal's brother. Further probe is underway.

SP vigilance Dhirendra Gunjyal said, “We received a complaint against SDO Sandip Sharma who is posted in Haridwar for demanding a bribe of Rs 20,000 for providing power connection. Soon we formed a team and arrested the SDO while he was taking money. A case has been registered against him under section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. We also seized some documents.” Pal said, “My brother went many times to get a connection done, but he was refused and asked for a bribe.”