Two RTA officials among four arrested for extorting money

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, May 18

The police today arrested an Assistant Secretary and a clerk of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) along with two others on the charge of extorting money from owners or drivers of heavy vehicles carrying construction materials for not issuing them challans for overloading. The police also recovered Rs 50 lakh from a rented house of both officials in Charkhi Dadri district.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the racket was being operated in several districts in connivance with private people who used to give 90 per cent share of the money to the two officials and keep 10 per cent with them, said the sources.

They said that those arrested are Assistant Secretary Manish Madan, clerk Amit, Ravinder, aka Kala, a resident of Kharmana village (Jhajjar), and Surender Rathi, a resident of Dairy Mohalla here. The police also recovered Rs 12.5 lakh from Ravinder and Rs 1 lakh from Surender. Manish and Amit are posted at Charkhi Dadri and also have the charge of Mahendragarh.

“We got a tip-off that RTA employees with the help of private people are extorting money from drivers or owners of heavy vehicles in Dadri, Mahendragarh, Jhajjar, Rewari, Bhiwani and Sonepat districts for not issuing challans to them for overloading. SP Jashandeep Singh Randhava formed a team to unearth the racket,” said DSP Narendra Kadian.

He said that the police team nabbed Ravinder and Surender from two vehicles near Chhotu Ram Park in Sampla town today. On being interrogated, they disclosed that they gave Rs 12 lakh to Manish and Rs 8 lakh to Amit on Friday. Thereafter, the team nabbed Manish and Amit and raided their house from where Rs 50 lakh was recovered, he added.

“The preliminary investigation also revealed that the accused had the details of the vehicle owners. They used to contact them and extort money from them. Private people collected the money from the vehicle owners and a major chunk of the extorted amount went to the RTA employees,” Kadian said.

He added that the accused booked under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act were later produced in a court, which sent them in police custody for two days.