A food safety officer was apprehended by the Vigilance and Anti-corruption cell on Friday for allegedly taking bribe from a person for issuing a license of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in Assam’s Nagaon district, police said.
A complaint was filed at the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption that Sri Birinchi Kumar Karjee, the Designated Food Safety Officer in the office of the Joint Director Health Services, Nagaon had demanded bribe of Rs 100000/- (one lakh) for issuing a FSSAI License to the complainant.
A case was registered under Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 (as amended in 2018) against the official, identified as Birinchi Kumar Karjee in this regard.
A trap was laid today in the Nagaon office of the Director of Health Services, Nagaon by a team from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption and Karjee, was caught red handed in his office while accepting Rs ten thousand from the complainant, as an instalment of as demanded earlier.
Karjee was the designated food safety officer for Nagaon, Hojai, Morigaon, Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts.
Simultaneous searches were conducted at Kamakhya Lodge, Nagaon where he lived when in town and also at his house located at Juripar in Guwahati.
During the search, Rs. 9,66,500/- (Nine lac sixty six thousand five hundred only) was recovered along with several documents, the police official added.
