Sleuths in civvies: ACB plan works as more suspects walk into trap

Over the past one year, ACB has been placing some of its staff at government offices to look out for people facing problems in getting their work done.

Additional superintendent of police Dilip Kadam said, “We started placing our men at various government offices like revenue, police, finance, health, caste verification, education, agriculture, registrar offices. It is obvious that a sizeable chunk of those who pay bribe are the ones facing problems in getting their work done. In some cases it is possible that government servants create obstacles to create a situation where he or she can ask for bribe. Such people are tapped by our men. We have found a large number people among them who had been asked by government to part with varied amounts of bribe to get their work done.”

Kadam added, “As per law, the aggrieved person has to first register a formal complaint and then we lay a trap. The number of traps increased because now complainants do not have to come to our office, but our team goes to him or her for initial formalities. The helpline we launched – 1064- has led us to a significant number of cases.”

Deputy superintendent of police Hemant Bhat said, “Our men at these government offices convince the aggrieved persons that their names will be kept secret. To trap a government servant, the complainant has to pay bribe for us to catch him red handed. We started ensuring that the complainant is not required to stay back at the spot so that he or she does not attract unwanted attention.”

Bhat added, “We are getting a large number of complaints from rural areas and we feel it is a positive sign. Every year we observe a vigilance week to create awareness. It is important that this momentum is taken further.”

A senior ACB officer said, “We are working on traps for class-1 officers. Out of 171 cases registered this year, just 5 are of class I officers, 23 are class II officers and the remaining are from class III and IV.”

The ACB has appealed people to come forward and complain against corrupt officials. Superintendent of Police (ACB Pune) Digambar Pradhan said, “If any public servant demands a bribe, people can can call up 020-26122134 or 020-26132802 or toll free number 1064. People should fearlessly come forward.