JDA deputy commissioner Ramesh Chand Agarwal arrested for taking bribe

Jaipur: The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Tuesday night arrested zone – 3 deputy commissioner of Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) Ramesh Chand Agarwal and his middleman Purushottam Sharma  after they were allegedly caught taking bribe for a lease deed (patta) transfer.

The deputy commissioner is a promote RAS officer. He had allegedly taken Rs 40,000 from the ACB complainant in the past and sent him to his middleman’s house to hand over the remaining bribe amount of Rs 20,000 when the ACB team trapped them.

According to ACB officials, the complaint was made by one Lalit Mohan Sharma, a resident of Govind Nagar in Amber Road area.

“Lalit had bought a house measuring 50 square yards in the name of his wife in 2008. In September last year, he applied at the zonal office for patta transfer. He kept doing the rounds of the zonal office for nearly 10 months, but nothing happened. As per norms, a person has to be issued patta in 45 days, but in order to prepare Lalit mentally for the bribe, they stalled the lease transfer,” said an ACB officer.

Ramesh Chand Agarwal on August 2 asked Lalit to meet Purushottam if he wanted the job done.

“Purushottam demanded Rs 60,000 bribe. Lalit approached ACB and registered a complaint. Purushottam took Rs 40,000 on August 3. On Tuesday night, Purushottam called up the complainant and asked him to come to his house with the remaining bribe money,” said the officer.

After Purushottam Sharma received the money, he called up the deputy commissioner Agarwal who asked him to come to his house at Agarwal Farm in Mansarovar.

When Purushottam was handing over the bribe money to the deputy commissioner, the ACB team arrested them. Both have been booked under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.