Shivamogga tahshildar and revenue inspector were arrested by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday after they were caught accepting a bribe from a farmer for sanctioning title deeds over the bagair hukum land cultivated by him.
Nagaraj Naik, a farmer from Kunchenahalli near here, was farming on four acres of bagair hukum land on the outskirts of his village for the past few years. He had recently submitted an application seeking regularisation of the cultivation, seeking title deed over the land.
According to ACB police, tahshildar Keshavamurthy and revenue inspector Shashidhar Bhat allegedly demanded ₹2 lakh as bribe from Mr. Naik for sanctioning title deed. The duo had asked him to pay ₹50,000 as first instalment on Friday. Mr. Naik had lodged a complaint with the ACB in this connection.
In the complaint, Mr. Naik had alleged that though he had furnished required documents with the application, the two officials were deliberately delaying the sanction of title deed.
Based on the complaint, ACB police laid a trap. Mr. Keshavamurthy and Mr. Bhat were caught red-handed while accepting an amount of Rs 50,000 as bribe from the complainant at a canteen at Gandhi Nagar locality in the city. Cases under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, have been booked against the arrested.
