CBI arrests Bank of Baroda branch manager, credit officer in bribery case

Lucknow, July 15 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the Branch Manager and Credit Officer of Bank of Baroda’s Koireepur branch in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe from a loan beneficiary, an official statement said on Wednesday.

The arrested officials have been identified as Swarnim Srivastava, Branch Manager, and Pushpak Chaudhary, Credit Officer, both posted at the Bank of Baroda’s Koireepur branch.

According to the CBI, a case was registered on July 13 based on a complaint alleging that the accused officials had sought an undue advantage for the release of funds under a government-backed loan scheme.

The complainant had been sanctioned a Rs 5 lakh loan under the Chief Minister Yuva Udyami Yojana at the Koireepur branch. While the term loan component had already been disbursed, the overdraft facility sanctioned as part of the loan package was yet to be released.

The agency alleged that the Branch Manager and Credit Officer demanded a bribe of Rs 45,000 from the complainant in exchange for facilitating the disbursement of the overdraft component of the sanctioned loan.

Following verification of the complaint, the CBI laid a trap on July 14. During the operation, the agency caught the Credit Officer allegedly accepting Rs 35,000 from the complainant. The CBI claimed the money was accepted in conspiracy with and at the behest of the Branch Manager.

Subsequently, both officials were taken into custody and arrested by the agency.

The accused were produced before the competent court in Lucknow. Further investigation into the case is underway, the CBI said.

Earlier in the first week of this month, the CBI had arrested the Project Director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Shillong, and two private persons for demanding a bribe of Rs 12 lakh from the complainant to process his outstanding bill to the tune of Rs 13.38 crore.

The accused public servant had instructed the complainant to give part of the bribe amount to the tune of Rs 4 lakh, in advance.

–IANS

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