One more forest official held by Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Assam

LAKHIMPUR: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Assam, on Tuesday, arrested one more Forest department official of the Lakhimpur Divisional Forest Office on charges of taking bribe under Section 7 of the 'Prevention of Corruption Act-1988'.

The arrested person has been identified as Pranab Kumar Dutta, who is Forester Grade 1. According to a report of the Bureau, Pranab Kumar Dutta played the role of a negotiator in the bribery case that was cracked on Monday.

A 12-member team of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Assam arrested Lakhimpur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jadab Chandra Nath and Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Jesimuddin Ahmed on Monday on the same charges under the Act.

The two Forest officers were caught red-handed while they were taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 from the owner of a tractor on Monday. Earlier, the tractor — laden with planks from a timber depot located at North Lakhimpur town — was seized by Naoboicha Police. The police handed over the tractor to the Forest Department about six months ago.

The truck owner is a resident of Sonapur-Gohain Doloni under the Laluk area of Lakhimpur district. The DFO and the ACF reportedly demanded Rs. 1,85,000 to release the tractor.

On Monday night, the Bureau had recovered Rs. 7,00,400 from the house of arrested DFO (Divisional Forest Officer), located at Sarathi Path, Hengerabari in Guwahati. Another team of the Bureau also recovered around Rs 2 lakh at the official residence of the DFO located at Japisojia near North Lakhimpur town.

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