In a swift action against corruption in the agricultural sector, the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested a Subject Matter Specialist (Group B) posted at the Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence for Vegetables (CEV) in Gharaunda. The official, identified as Pramod Kumar, was caught red-handed on Monday while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹35,000.
According to Vigilance officials, the arrest followed a complaint filed by a local farmer. The complainant alleged that Kumar had demanded the bribe to bypass the mandatory online application and payment procedure for purchasing seedlings. The accused allegedly agreed to sell 10,000 muskmelon plants—grown at the centre—at a rate of ₹3.50 per plant directly for cash, thereby subverting the official transparency protocols. The bribe was reportedly being routed through a middleman.
Acting on the tip-off, a vigilance team laid a trap at the CEV office in Gharaunda. Kumar was apprehended immediately after accepting the tainted money. “The accused has been booked under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. He was produced before a court on Tuesday and has been taken on one-day police remand for further interrogation,” a Vigilance Bureau spokesperson stated.
Karnal Range Superintendent of Police (Vigilance) Ganga Ram Punia reiterated the bureau’s zero-tolerance policy. He urged the public to report any government official demanding bribes directly to the bureau’s helpline numbers 1064 or 1800-180-2022.