ACB raids houses of Dudu dist collector, patwari

Dudu: A team of Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) raided the house of Dudu Collector Hanuman Mal Dhaka and Patwari (a village level revenue officer) Hansraj on Friday night in an alleged bribery case of Rs 25 lakh in lieu for land conversion.

ACB seized mobile phones of Dhaka and Hansraj. The ACB’s search operation continued till 8 am on Saturday.

A team of ACB also searched a room at Dudu Tehsil office on Saturday and seized a computer and some documents. The complainant has alleged that Dhaka and Hansraj demanded Rs 25 lakh as bribe for not taking action against him in a land conversion case, Deputy Inspector General, Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Ravi said in a statement. He added that the complainant has 204 bighas of land.

The ACB official said that during verification, a recorder was also sent along with the victim, which clears that Dudu Collector Hanuman Mal Dhaka had asked for a bribe of around Rs 7.5 lakh at his residence in Dak Bungalow.

A case has been registered under Prevention of Corruption Act against both the accused and search operations are being carried out at their locations.

Hanuman Mal Dhaka was promoted to IAS service last year. The complainant claimed that when he cited that he did not have the amount demanded, he was assured that no action would be taken if he could pay up Rs 15 lakh, Ravi said.

Dhaka was an officer of the State Administrative Service and was promoted as an Indian Administrative Service-rank officer last year.