The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) caught an assistant manager of the Central Bank of India red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹10,000 in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district on Thursday. The official allegedly demanded the money to clear approvals for setting up banking kiosks.

CBI laid trap near local gurdwara

The operation was executed by a specialized team from the CBI’s Jabalpur unit following a formal complaint by a local resident, Deependra Singh. Officials said the trap was laid near a gurdwara situated just outside the bank premises, where the exchange was scheduled to take place.

Four banking kiosks approvals pending

According to initial reports, Singh had applied to open four banking kiosks across the Shahdol district. The accused official, identified as Abhyankar Sharma, was posted as an assistant manager at the bank’s regional office. Sharma allegedly held up the files and demanded ₹10,000 to process the application and issue the mandatory permissions.

Verification led to swift action

Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached S.K. Rathi, the Superintendent of Police for the CBI Jabalpur unit. "A preliminary verification of the complaint was conducted discreetly. Once the allegations were found to be prima facie true, a trap team was constituted," a source familiar with the matter said.

Arrested during open delivery

On Thursday, the complainant went to meet the officer as instructed. As soon as Sharma took the cash from Singh outside the bank building, the waiting CBI sleuths moved in and caught him. The tainted currency notes were recovered from his possession on the spot, and his hands were washed in a chemical solution as part of standard trap procedures.

Simultaneous raids at Gwalior residence

The accused manager originally hails from Gwalior. Following his detention, a separate CBI team launched a search operation at his residential premises in Gwalior late Thursday evening to check for unaccounted assets and documents. Local authorities confirmed that a case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further investigation into his past clearances is underway.