Food and Civil Supplies department joint director Dr Sridhar and clerk Santosh were caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths on Wednesday, while the former was accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 to release a lorry which was seized for illegally transporting rice meant for distribution under the Public Distribution System.
A team of the Food department officials had seized the lorry near Aland last March. Mainuddin, the lorry owner, sought permission from the Food department officials to get his vehicle released even though the lorry was in possession of the police. He was trying to get it released through the Food department second division clerk Santosh.
Mainuddin lodged a complaint with the ACB police that Sridhar, who demanded a bribe of Rs 50,000 initially, settled for Rs 15,000 to release the vehicle.
After receiving the bribe from Mainuddin, Santosh called up Sridhar to inform him about the same. Sridhar then directed him to bring the money to his house located in Ghatage Layout.
A team of ACB sleuths led by ACB SP V M Jyothi, kept track of Santosh. The team arrested Sridhar and Santosh, when the officer was receiving the amount from his subordinate.