Clerk Gets 3 Years RI for Taking ₹12,000 Bribe: Demanded Money to Clear Salary Arrears, Caught Red-Handed by ACB
Raipur: A special court in Chhattisgarh has sentenced Assistant Grade-II clerk Goutam Singh Ayam to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹10,000 in a corruption case investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
The case came to light on August 3, 2024, after Nitesh Ranjan Patel, a peon posted at the Pre-Middle School in Dhadhiya under Wadrafnagar block, lodged a complaint at the ACB office in Ambikapur.
In his complaint, Patel stated that his salary arrears of ₹92,000 had been pending since 2013. When he approached Ayam at the Block Education Officer (BEO) office in Wadrafnagar for processing the file, the clerk allegedly demanded a ₹20,000 bribe.
The accused allegedly sought the money for verification of the service book from the Treasury, Accounts and Pension office, preparation of the bill, and forwarding the file for payment clearance.
During verification, ACB officials found the complaint to be genuine. The accused later negotiated the amount and allegedly reduced it to ₹12,000, claiming it was a “fixed rate” charged from everyone for such work.
Acting on the complaint, the ACB laid a trap at the BEO office in Wadrafnagar on August 13, 2024. The team caught Goutam Singh Ayam red-handed while accepting the ₹12,000 bribe from the complainant and arrested him on the spot.
The investigating agency filed the chargesheet before the Special Court for Prevention of Corruption Act cases in Balrampur on October 8, 2024. After hearing arguments and examining evidence, the court on May 15, 2026 convicted the accused and awarded three years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a monetary fine.
