Hyderabad, April 30 -- A forest beat officer has been caught in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) net for accepting a bribe to not interfere with the cultivation of podu lands for which patta (land deed) was given by the state government in the past.

Banoth Naresh, Forest Beat Officer working in Gundala Forest Range of Bhadradri Kothagudem district, was caught accepting the bribe amounting to Rs 10,000 at his office on Thursday, April 30.

The matter pertained to five acre podu land in Venkatapuram village, for which the complainant's father was assigned a patta.

The accused has been arrested and produced before the Special Court for Special Police Establishment (SPE) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Cases-cum-Third Additional District a...