The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths arrested four people, including two sons of Thanagazi (Alwar) MLA Kanti Prasad Meena, for taking bribes, in Jaipur on Friday night. Police have also recovered Rs 5 lakh taken as bribe from Krishna Meena, the younger son of the Independent MLA.
Earlier, during interrogation, Krishna Meena, who was the first to be nabbed red-handed, said that his elder brother Lokesh Meena had sent him to Jaipur to collect money. After this, the ACB team reached Thanagazi late in the night with Krishna. The team arrested Lokesh Meena, Rajgarh BDO Netram, and village pradhan’s son Jai Pratap and brought them to Jaipur.
Director General ACB Rajasthan BL Soni said that the complainant had said that the accused were demanding a bribe for clearing bills amounting to Rs 14 lakh.
“Lokesh Meena and Jaipratap Singh, the mediators for Netram, BDO, were demanding an amount of Rs 9 lakh as commission to clear the bills. The complainant asked the accused to come to Jaipur to collect the money. As soon as Krishna reached Jaipur to collect Rs 5 lakh as part of the bribe money, he was caught red-handed. During interrogation, he spilled the names of his elder brother, BDO, and village pradhan’s son. The ACB team is interrogating all four in Jaipur,” said Soni.
Kanti Prasad Meena told The New Indian: “It is a conspiracy against my family. The contractor had taken money from my family and my son went to recover that amount. Is it a crime to recover the money that has been loaned? I smell a plot. I will soon reveal more details to the media.”
As the news of MLA’s sons’ arrests spread like wildfire, the Opposition launched a scathing attack on the government.
Taking a jibe at the Ashok Gehlot government, BJP state president Satish Poonia tweeted: “Rajasthan has become the capital of corruption under the rule of Congress government. Zero tolerance policy against the corruption of Gehlot ji. Everything is fair to remain in power so long his position is secure.”
It is worthwhile to mention here that both the sons of MLA Meena got married in a mass marriage ceremony (Samuhik Vivah). Mass marriage was apparently organized to spread a message against lavish weddings and extravagance in society. However, it is an irony of sorts that both have now been caught for bribery.