JAIPUR: In a novel bid to escape the Anti-Corruption Bureau, a revenue official in Rajasthan's Sirohi district allegedly burnt currency notes worth around Rs 20 lakh on Wednesday night.
The official burnt the notes that were lying at his residence soon after the ACB sleuths reached there.
Tehsildar Kalpesh Kumar Jain, an official of the state Revenue Department, hurriedly locked himself inside his house and burnt the currency notes when the ACB officials arrived at his home. A little earlier, the ACB team had arrested revenue inspector Parvat Singh who was taking a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a man allegedly on behalf of Tehsildar Jain for awarding him a contract.
The video of the incident, shared by ACB officials on social media, has gone viral where the Tehsildar can be seen burning Rs 500 rupee notes in his kitchen along with his wife. In the video, ACB officials are also seen trying to convince Jain to open the door for them.
The bizarre incident lasted nearly 45 minutes. Ultimately, ACB officials had to break the kitchen door to force their way in and arrest the Tehsildar.
According to ACB DIG Vishnukant, the official had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 5 lakh for a government contract. He had demanded the same through his revenue inspector Parvat Singh who worked as his agent and was caught taking a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a man on behalf of the Tehsildar.
The ACB team, somehow, managed to find the burnt notes in the kitchen and even recovered about 1.5 lakh rupees in cash. Both Jain and Singh have been arrested.
Interestingly, a senior Congress MLA Bharat Singh has shot off a letter to CM Ashok Gehlot and demanded that Jain should be given compulsory retirement for his shocking behaviour and corrupt deals. MLA Singh claimed that Tehsildar's crime should be regarded as a rarest of rare case and he should be given exemplary punishment.