The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has apprehended four public officials in separate bribery incidents in Delhi, shedding light on alleged corruption within civic and heritage organizations. The arrests, made on April 1, involved a junior engineer and a Beldar from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s Shahdara North Zone, as well as a conservation assistant and a monument attendant from the Archaeological Survey of India’s Jantar Mantar sub-circle.
In the first case, a complaint filed on March 31 against a Beldar from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in Shahdara North Zone revealed an extortion attempt of Rs 80,000 to prevent the demolition of a recently renovated house. Acting swiftly, the CBI caught the Beldar red-handed while accepting an initial bribe of Rs 5,000, with further demands totaling Rs 70,000 on behalf of a junior engineer.
Another case involved two officials from the ASI at the Jantar Mantar sub-circle, where a monument attendant was accused of soliciting Rs 3.5 lakh on behalf of a conservation assistant to retract an official notice and allow specific works to continue. Negotiations led to an agreement for Rs 3.10 lakh, with an initial payment of Rs 1 lakh. The CBI’s operation on April 1 resulted in the arrest of the monument attendant, followed by the apprehension of the conservation assistant upon further investigation.
All four accused individuals are now in custody as the CBI continues its probe to uncover the full extent of the alleged corruption and any potential broader network involved.
