BENGALURU: An inspector and a constable of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Byappanahalli, have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act besides other sections of Indian Penal Code.
Sleuths from the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Central Bureau of Investigation registered an FIR against Umesh Dakar and Raghavendra based on a complaint by Manjunath M, maintenance manager from Athreya hospital, Anekal Main Road, Chandapura.
According to the FIR, the accused demanded Rs 1.5 lakh bribe from the hospital authorities, saying the latter had damaged cables in the adjacent railway property. The hospital had a renovation function on February 27 and according to RPF officials, a few cables were damaged when the staff were cleaning the ground.
“Umesh Dakar visited the hospital and demanded Rs 1.5 lakh to settle the issue. The demands were repeated over the phone. On February 26, RPF staff seized the chimney from the hospital, whose exhaust was pointing towards the railway property. RPF also unofficially detained one of the security guards and threatened the complainant with dire consequences. On February 26, the post commander, RPF, issued summons to the hospital’s managing director to appear for investigation on March 2. The complainant, Manjunath on behalf of the MD, visited the RPF office where he was confronted by Raghavendra and Umesh. They reiterated their demand for Rs 1.5 lakh besides Rs 25,000 as fine amount. The complainant recorded the conversation on the mobile phone,” the FIR stated.
A verification report by Rakesh Ranjan, inspector, CBI-ACB, Bengaluru, said the complaint is genuine.
