Fair trap to nail corrupt Guj babus
Sleuths’ Move To Make Women Part Of Decoy Gives 100% Success ………Prashant Dayal
Sleuths’ Move To Make Women Part Of Decoy Gives 100% Success ………Prashant Dayal
Ahmedabad: The 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 woman 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 the ACB’s modus operandi was sparked off by an unusual decision taken by corrupt officials of the government revenue department in Mehsana. “There was an unwritten rule among officials in the 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 a bribe for clearing a bill for road construction. The woman sarpanch had got a road laid and the government officials were demanding a bribe to clear the bill.
“For the first time, we sent a woman employee for the trap. The operation was successful and we had got an effective formula to nail corrupt officials,’’ said an ACB source.
This change was necessary, said ACB officials, because corrupt government officials are now well-versed with the modus operandi of the ACB. The trap would often fail because spotting a stranger with the victim, the government official would call off the deal.