Ahmedabad: ACB arrests its own inspector for taking ‘bribe’ of Rs 18 lakh

“A complainant approached us saying that he had got an offence registered at Junagadh ACB police station last year and inspector Chavda of Junagadh ACB demanded Rs 20 lakh bribe from him. We investigated the complaint and trapped the accused officer with Rs 18 lakh bribe amount at Sanathan cross road in Ahmedabad rural on Tuesday. The accused had come to Ahmedabad on his own for some personal work. We are also inquiring about the disproportionate assets of the accused and any other accused who might be involved in this matter,” said Bharti Pandya, deputy superintendent of police, ACB Ahmedabad.

According to officials, the accused officer, DD Chavda, was probing an alleged fraud of over Rs 10 lakh in a grant related to improvement of pasture land in Patla village of Junagadh.

“The complainant, a retired Animal Husbandry department official, had given an application in 2018 that the sarpanch and few others from Patla village in Junagadh might have been involved in a scam of government grant related to improvement of pasture land. PI DD Chavda was investigating the case and as per complainant, he threatened to lodge a fake case against him and demanded Rs 20 lakh bribe. He gave an option to the complainant stating that he can make him either a witness or an accused in any corruption case as per his wish,” said an official of ACB Ahmedabad.

According to ACB officials, Chavda had been attached to the ACB since 2004 and has served in Rajkot, Porbandar and Junagadh.