Kolkata, Oct. 8 -- The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the state police recovered 73 incriminating documents relating to financial assets and investments worth around Rs 1.32 crore during a search of the residence of a Sub-Assistant Engineer (SAE) of the West Bengal State Rural Development Agency (WBSRDA), who was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly accepting a bribe.
The SAE was allegedly caught red-handed while accepting a bribe from a contractor at the Hooghly Zilla Parishad office, where he was posted.
According to the allegations, the contractor had received a road repair work order in 2023 following a tender process. After completing the work, he approached the engineer in 2025 for the return of his Earnest Money Deposit (EMD). The contractor alleged that the engineer demanded a bribe to process the EMD refund.
The contractor subsequently approached the ACB, which laid a trap at the Hooghly Zilla Parishad office. After the complainant handed over chemically-treated currency notes, ACB officials allegedly caught the engineer and recovered the money from his possession.
During the investigation, ACB officials searched the engineer's residence in the Barabazar area of Chinsurah in Hooghly district. The search yielded 73 documents concerning several financial assets and investments.
According to the ACB, preliminary scrutiny of the documents showed that the engineer had accumulated assets and investments worth around Rs 1.32 crore over the past five years.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.