PANJIM: Assistant Director of Transport Uday Gauns’ greed got the better of him and landed him in the police net. Demand for a higher bribe amount from the transporter to meet ‘kitchen expenses’ led the whistleblower transporter to seek out the Anti-Corruption Branch for relief.
Sources said Gauns suddenly demanded an increase in the bribe amount from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per truck per month. “The whistleblower (Rajiv Singh) tried to negotiate to bring this down to Rs 2,000 or a maximum at Rs 3,000 but he (Gauns) refused,” a senior ACB officer told Herald.
The conversation, which Singh recorded, has the RTO officer complaining of increasing vegetable prices and poor salary paid by government. “I have a kitchen. You know the price of onions, potatoes,
tomatoes have shot up…” he can be heard saying in the recording, an ACB officer said. The audio file is in the process of being transcribed for investigation.
Gauns and his accomplice – Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspector Vaman Umbrascar – were arrested on Tuesday while accepting a bribe of Rs 90,000 from the transporter. Both have been remanded to two days police custody.
The Transport Department is yet to study the ACB report, which was submitted on Wednesday evening, to initiate departmental action against the two officers. Transport Director Arun Desai said suspension will follow after going through the ACB report.
ACB teams also searched the residencies of the two officers.
Singh who runs an inter-state transport firm from Ponda has nearly 30 trucks plying in the north district. Despite possessing valid licences and paying taxes, the two RTO officers had demanded the bribe to ensure ‘smooth operations’ in the jurisdiction.
“The complainant wanted to store the record for his personal consumption but when the officers remained adamant on their demand, he was prompted to approach the CB,” the officer said.
