CBI arrests Air force officer for taking bribe

Vijayawada: The sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Visakhapatnam branch, arrested Chaitanya Kumar, a flight lieutenant serving as the Station Logistic Officer at Air Force Station in Suryalanka of Bapatla district, for allegedly accepting a bribe of 50,000.

According to CBI, the accused officer demanded the bribe from a supplier to settle outstanding bills related to materials provided to the Air Force Station. The incident came to light after the complainant, unwilling to comply with the demand, reported the matter to the CBI's Anti-Corruption Bureau in Visakhapatnam.

The complainant alleged that in Nov 2024, Chaitanya Kumar informed the complainant that Air Force Station in Suryalanka needed 200 mattresses and asked him to quote for the said 200 mattresses through the govt e-Marketplace (GEM) platform. The supplier quoted a rate of 2,499 per mattress, amounting to 4,99,800. Following the supply, the payment was credited to the complainant's account on Nov 30, 2024.

However, after processing the payment, the officer allegedly demanded a bribe of 40,000 for approving future contracts. Additionally, the complainant supplied two Ahuja amplifiers for 42,000 and hired a crane and trailer for 23,364, but the bills for these services were not cleared. Instead, the accused demanded an additional 10,000, making a total bribe demand of 50,000, threatening to block future contracts if the payment was not made.

Acting on the plaint, CBI registered a case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018). On Sunday, during a trap operation, officials caught Chaitanya Kumar red-handed while accepting bribe from the complainant.