Forest beat officer, intermediary held in ₹30,000 bribe trap in Kothagudem
KOTHAGUDEM: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested a forest beat officer and an intermediary for allegedly demanding and accepting a ₹30,000 bribe in Allapalli mandal of Bhadradri Kothagudem district.
The accused were identified as Banoth Ravi Kumar, Forest Beat Officer of Kachanapally Beat and in-charge of Ramanujagudem Beat, and Patan Sadiq Khan.
According to the ACB, Ravi Kumar demanded ₹30,000 from a complainant in return for not obstructing Podu cultivation. He allegedly offered to refrain from taking action, including digging trenches, allowing the complainant to continue cultivation without interference.
The ACB said such non-interference could also preserve the complainant’s prospects of obtaining a patta or regularisation of the land in future, subject to government policy and procedure.
The officer allegedly instructed the complainant to hand over the money to Sadiq Khan, saying he would collect it from him later.
Following the instructions, the complainant handed over the ₹30,000 to Khan at his residence in Ramanujagudem village.
The ACB said its officials recovered the tainted cash during the trap proceedings. A chemical test conducted on Khan’s hands also returned a positive result.
The ACB said Ravi Kumar had demanded and accepted the illegal gratification through Khan by allegedly misusing his official position.
Both accused were taken into custody and arrested. They will be produced before the Special Judge for SPE and ACB Cases concerned, the ACB said.
The case is under investigation. The identity and details of the complainant have been withheld for security reasons.
The official Bhadradri Kothagudem district website lists Allapalli as a mandal and Ramanujagudem and Kachanapalli among its villages. The spelling Banoth Ravi Kumar is also supported by a contemporaneous report on the trap and an earlier Telangana High Court record.
The ACB has asked people to report demands for bribes by public servants through its toll-free number 1064. Its official X account also lists 1064 as the number for reporting corruption.
