ACB sleuths trap SPDCL AE

Nellore: Anti Corruption Bureau officials caught an assistant engineer of Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) red-handed while taking bribe from a farmer on Tuesday.

The accused assistant engineer B Chandra Sekhar working at Jaladanki sub-station and shift operator S Ashok Kumar employed at Kesavaram village secretariat in Jaladanki mandal were nabbed by the ACB sleuths while they were collecting the money.

According to official sources, D Narasimha Rao, a farmer of Timmasamudram village in Jaladanki mandal, has approached APSPDCL AE for securing agriculture connection for his field eight months ago.

The assistant engineer demanded that the farmer should pay him a bribe of Rs 30,000 to get the connection sanctioned. Vexed with his behaviour, the farmer lodged a complaint with the ACB on toll free number 14400. The ACB officials laid a trap and caught the APSPDCL AE and the shift operator while they were accepting the bribe from the farmer on Tuesday.