Northeast agricultural marketing panel official held for graft

New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The CBI has arrested an assistant manager of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC) for accepting Rs 1 lakh bribe from a restaurant owner for not blacklisting his firm which prematurely withdrew from a government contract, an official said on Friday.

Satish Sharma was held red-handed on Thursday for demanding and accepting the bribe as advance payment from the complainant and booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official.

A CBI team also conducted searches at the premises of Sharma early Friday and claimed to have recovered some incriminating documents.

The CBI move comes following the complaint of the victim who informed that NERAMAC, a government undertaking under Ministry of Development of North East Region, awarded a two years contract to his firm in October 2017 for running a restaurant in Delhi Haat, INA market.

The complainant said he closed the restaurant on February 9 and informed to NERAMAC that he was unable to continue with the contract due to losses.

"It was alleged that Sharma demanded a bribe of Rs two lakh for not blacklisting the complainant's firm and also assured him to levy minimum penalty on his firm due to premature withdrawal," the official said.

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