GUWAHATI: The registrar of Bhattadev University, Guruprasad Khataniar, was arrested by the vigilance and anti-corruption (VAC) branch of state police in Guwahati on Saturday on charges of demanding a bribe.
The police had received a complaint from a contractor under the public works department that Khataniar had asked for Rs 1 lakh as bribe for releasing a bill for earth filling work in the university. Later, he had reduced the amount to Rs 50,000.
According to the police, Khataniar was caught red-handed at about 12.30 pm near the guest house of the Assam Engineering Institute, Chandmari. Soon after, the registrar admitted that he had placed a demand for Rs 50,000 from the complainant. "The tainted bribe money has been recovered from the possession of Khataniar in the presence of independent witnesses and has been seized by the team," said a statement issued by the police.
"The executive engineer, PWD Building, Pathsala, had prepared a running bill for earth filling work amounting to Rs 32,00,000 and forwarded the same to the registrar who kept the bill pending without any reason as alleged in the FIR," read the statement.
It added, "Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the directorate of vigilance & anti-corruption, Assam, for taking needful legal action against the Registrar."
A case has been registered at the ACB (anti-corruption bureau) police station under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) against Khataniar.
The police said a trap was laid on Saturday in the Chandmari police station area here, by a team from the directorate of VAC, Assam.
