IAS Nannu Mal, RAS Ashok Kumar suspended

Jaipur: IAS officer Nannumal Pahadia and RAS officer Ashok Kumar Sankhala who were arrested for taking Rs 5 lakh bribe were suspended on Tuesday. They are currently in judicial custody.

The bureaucrats were demanding a monthly amount of Rs 16 lakh from the ACB complainant to allow the work being undertaken by his company to continue uninterrupted. A middleman was also arrested. The trio was booked under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The ACB sources said that the agency has launched an investigation into other complaints of corruption against the two officials. Some complaints were received when Pahadia was posted as district collector. However, the ACB could trap him shortly after he was transferred from the post.

Earlier on Sunday, the two officers were produced in a court that sent them to judicial custody till May 7. The ACB officials said the two officers used to split the bribe amount. They allegedly took Rs 5 lakh per month from the company involved in Delhi-Mumbai Express Highway. Of this amount, Rs 4 lakh would go to the IAS officer, while The RAS officer kept Rs 1 lakh for himself. The duo took Rs 70 lakh as bribe from the company in the past 16 months.

DG, ACB BL Soni said that an investigation was launched against IAS Nannu Mal Pahadia and Ashok Kumar after the owner of a firm involved in the construction of the national highway approached the agency. He alleged that the two officers were harassing and threatening him. To not interrupt the work being undertaken by his company, the two officers demanded a monthly amount of Rs 16 lakh.