The arrested have been identified as gazetted third-class officer Rajendra Prasad Sah and service seeker Ambar Yadav of Rajbiraj-5. The service seeker was paying the money to Sah in exchange for the promise to settle a land related case.

“Based on a tip-off, we were keeping a close tabs on the activities of service seekers and the Land Revenue Office for the past three days,” said Gokul Niraula, an officer at CIAA’s contact office in Itahari. “We caught the duo red handed after the service seeker Yadav called officer Sah inside the registration room of the office and gave him the bribe money.”

The CIAA organised a press conference in Rajbiraj to make public the guilty of corruption charges.

At the conference, accused officer Sah claimed service seeker Yadav put the money into his pocket though he had not demanded the bribe money. But Yadav claimed he had to make the payment after Sah nagged him by repeatedly asking for money to settle the case.