ACB gives woman-power punch to corrupt officials………Prashant Dayal
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has now started enrolling women to trap the rotten apples in government offices. The women who are part of the decoy are government employees who accompany the complainant from whom the bribe is being taken, and later they become panch witnesses and help the ACB sleuths catch culprits red-handed.
The results are quite encouraging. This modus operandi has a cent per cent track record. In June alone all 25 traps laid across the state were successful. A total of 30 corrupt government employees were arrested in these traps, where women played a pivotal role.
Director of ACB Chittaranjan Singh said: “Enrolling women witnesses has proved to be a success. Their professionalism and eagerness in being part of these operations have helped us improve our strike rate.”
This change in ACB’s modus operandi was sparked off by an unusual decision taken by corrupt officials of government revenue department in Mehsana. “There was an unwritten rule among officials in Mehsana revenue department — bribes shall not be taken in the presence of any stranger, other than the ‘prey’,”said ACB officials.
In May a woman sarpanch of Banaskantha lodged a complaint with the ACB that government officials of Mehsana were demanding bribe for clearing a bill for road construction.
“For the very first time we sent a woman government employee with the sarpanch for the trap. The operation was successful and we had got an effective formula to nail corrupt officials,”said ACB sources.
This change was necessary, said ACB officials, because corrupt government officials are now well-versed with the modus operandi of ACB. The trap would often fail because spotting a stranger — government witness — with the victim, the corrupt official would call off the deal.