A taluka agricultural officer and an accomplice were detained by the Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) after they were allegedly caught accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a seeds whole-seller in Junagadh on Friday. Mayank Sisodiya, agricultural officer (AO) of Junagadh taluka, was detained by ACB after Ketan Baldha, allegedly on the official's behalf, was caught red-handed accepting Rs 10,000 at Om Agro Centre in Makhiyala village. The ACB had laid a trap after receiving a complaint from a private seeds whole-seller in Junagadh that the AO had demanded bribes from him for approving seeds samples. “Seed dealers are required to get their seeds certified by concerned AOs at taluka levels periodically before selling them in the open market. The complainant is a whole-seller of seeds. The AO demanded Rs 10,000 from the whole-seller. The latter didn’t want to pay the bribe and lodged a complaint with the ACB,” an ACB officer said. The ACB said that Baldha accepted Rs 10,000 in cash at Om Agro Centre and then informed Sisodiya that he had received the amount on the latter’s behalf.
