J&K: CBI arrests two Agriculture Dept officials, aide for taking Rs 15,000 bribe

Digital Desk | Jammu, Sep 20 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three accused, including two officials of the state agriculture department, for taking a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a government scheme’s beneficiary, an official said on Sunday. Rajan Sharma, Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer (SDAO), Agriculture Department, and Abhilashi Sharma, Agricultural Extension Assistant (AEA), were arrested along with Ashok Kumar, a private person, the CBI official said in a statement. The CBI registered the case on Saturday against the accused on allegations that the accused Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer (SDAO) of the Agriculture Department demanded a bribe of Rs 35,000 from the complainant to release his subsidy under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) scheme. The accused SDAO asked the complainant to hand over the bribe either to the AEA (Agricultural Extension Assistant) or to Ashok Kumar, the CBI said. The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused Agricultural Extension Assistant (AEA) and the private person red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from the complainant. Later, the CBI also arrested the third accused, a Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer, from his residence, the statement said. Earlier, in a separate case, the CBI arrested a probationary sub-inspector of J&K Police while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a person involved in a matrimonial discord case. Officials said the probationary Sub-Inspector Danish Hamid, posted at the Janipur Police Station in Jammu, was arrested on August 16. “He was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 to drop a threatened First Information Report (FIR) related to a marital dispute. Danish Hamid demanded Rs 20,000 as a bribe, which the complainant later negotiated to Rs 10,000. He was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe. He has been booked for extortion for not lodging an FIR in a personal dispute," an official said. Before the abrogation of Article 370 and reorganisation of J&K, the CBI did not have jurisdiction over state officials involved in corruption. Now, the CBI holds full legal jurisdiction to investigate corruption and bribery offences within the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, operating under the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act and empowered by state consent alongside dedicated anti-corruption courts.