JAIPUR: In a disturbing case of administrative exploitation, the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a municipal health inspector and a private shopkeeper for allegedly running a bribery racket targeting sanitation staff. The duo was caught red-handed accepting a bribe from a specially-abled employee to release his overdue salary.
The case was formally registered under Sections 7, 7A, and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), alongside Section 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
The Complaint
The investigation began after a formal complaint was lodged by 23-year-old Bhawanishankar Chawala, a resident of Nava City in the Didwana-Kuchaman district. Chawala, who is employed under the disability quota, works as a frontline sanitation worker (Safai Karamchari) in Ward No. 99 (formerly Ward No. 36) of the Civil Lines Zone under the Jaipur Greater Municipal Corporation (Nagar Nigam Jaipur).
Chawala approached the ACB on March 17, 2026, revealing that his officiating Health Inspector/Sanitation Inspector (SI), Dinesh Kumar, was withholding his salary statement. He alleged that Inspector Dinesh, acting in tandem with a local shopkeeper named Prakash Chand, routinely demanded a kickback of ₹5,000 per month just to clear and certify his online biometric attendance logs for payroll processing.
The Private Conduit Mechanism
According to the complainant, Inspector Dinesh used Prakash Chand’s shop, “Prakash Hosiery”—located adjacent to the municipal ward office near the Jaipur Railway Station—as a secure exchange point for collection.
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During a preliminary ACB verification operation inside the shop, Prakash Chand used his own phone to call the inspector on loudspeaker. Both individuals explicitly warned the employee that his March salary would remain frozen indefinitely unless the ₹5,000 tribute was delivered immediately. Over the subsequent weeks, the extortion demands scaled up to a cumulative ₹15,000 as the worker’s April and May salaries were also deliberately withheld by the inspector.
The Sting Operation
On May 14, 2026, a specialized ACB trap team led by Police Inspector Chhotilal Meena deployed near the railway station municipal office. Armed with a digital voice recorder and ₹5,000 in currency notes treated with invisible phenolphthalein chemical powder, the complainant entered the ward office.
During their meeting inside the office, Inspector Dinesh severely reprimanded the specially-abled worker for questioning his attendance logs, mockingly calling him a “VIP” who does not respect his job. Dinesh then summoned Prakash Chand to handle the transaction.
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Prakash Chand pressured the employee to immediately head to a nearby ICICI Bank branch to withdraw the remaining ₹10,000 balance for the prior months. He then took the initial ₹5,000 cash from Chawala. As Prakash stepped out of the office room while counting the cash bundles, Chawala gave a pre-arranged visual distress signal to the hidden trap team.
Chemical Analysis and Cash Seizures
The ACB team swarmed the precinct and immobilized both suspects.
- Red-Handed Recovery: Independent witness Chetan Prakash Vijay physically opened Prakash Chand’s tightly clenched right fist to recover the exact ten ₹500 currency notes used in the sting, matching the serial numbers logged by the agency.
- Positive Chemical Wash: When Prakash Chand’s hands were immersed in a chemical solution of sodium carbonate, the liquid instantly turned pink, scientifically verifying direct physical contact with the treated bribe money.
- On-Site Corroboration: Two on-duty municipal sweepers resting inside the visitor’s area provided eyewitness statements confirming that Inspector Dinesh had explicitly directed the victim to make the payment to the private shopkeeper.
Following the arrest, Inspector Dinesh’s personal search yielded an additional unexplained ₹7,500 in cash inside his uniform trousers. The ACB team also seized the temporary attendance register hidden inside the inspector’s office desk drawer as vital prosecution evidence.
Refusal to Cooperate
When formal notices were served to both individuals to provide a voluntary voice sample to cross-match the agency’s incriminating telephonic audio logs, both suspects flatly refused in writing to cooperate.
The case has been handed over to Suresh Kumar Swami, Deputy Superintendent of Police (ACB Jaipur City), who will spearhead the primary trial investigation before the Special Anti-Corruption Sessions Court in Jaipur.