New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Bank of Baroda’s bank manager and a tout in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur for demanding a bribe of Rs 25,000 from a loan beneficiary, an official said on Friday.

Gaurav Verma, Branch Manager, Bank of Baroda, Nonari Bujurg Branch, District- Kanpur Dehat, and Raghvendra, Bank Mitra, were arrested on Thursday, said a CBI statement.

The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused tout red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 on behalf of the accused Branch Manager from the complainant, the statement said.

After the arrest, the two accused were produced before a Special CBI court in Lucknow, the statement said.

The CBI registered the instant case on June 3 based on a complaint alleging that the complainant obtained a loan of Rs 10 lakh under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) from Bank of Baroda, Nonari Bujurg Branch, for setting up a solar flour mill in December 2023.

After two years, the complainant obtained the requisite documents for claiming the interest subsidy under Pt. Deendayal Gramodyog Rojgar Yojana from the aforesaid bank branch and further received the first instalment of interest subsidy in his account, the statement said.

It was further alleged that when the complainant again approached the Branch Manager for the requisite documents for claiming interest subsidy under Pt. Deendayal Gramodyog Rojgar Yojana, the accused Branch Manager demanded an undue advantage of Rs 25,000 through the Bank Mitra in the said bank branch, it said.

The bribe was demanded from the complainant for issuing the said requisite documents, and the manager threatened him that his requisite documents for the interest subsidy would not be issued if the demanded bribe was not paid, the CBI said.

Not willing to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the CBI and gave a hand-written application seeking urgent intervention, the statement said.

–IANS

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