Srinagar, Jan 8 (IANS): J&K Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday arrested a woman scientist while accepting a bribe, an official statement said.

According to the ACB statement, Dr. Bilquees Ara Siddiqui, of the pollution control board, was trapped and arrested for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000.

"ACB received a written complaint against Dr. Bilquees Ara, Scientist B in the state pollution control board for demand of bribe for issuance of ‘Consent To Operate’ (CTO) certificate for a bakery unit located at Industrial Estate, Khunmoh.

"The complainant alleged that he had applied for CTO from Pollution Control Board in the month of November 2023 and his application was pending with Dr. Bilquees (accused) who was unnecessarily delaying the matter. It was further alleged that on 6th of this month, the complainant visited the accused at PCB office and requested her to process his case" it said, adding that she demanded Rs 20,000 as bribe, but after negotiations, the amount was settled as Rs 5,000.

"The complainant chose not to pay bribe and instead approached ACB for taking legal action against the accused public servant as provided under law," it said.

The CAB said that on receipt of the complaint, FIR No. 02/2024 under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered with police station ACB Srinagar and investigation taken up.

"During the course of investigation, a trap team was constituted. The team laid a successful trap and caught the accused public servant red-handed while demanding and accepting bribe amount of Rs 5,000 from the complainant.

The money was recovered from the accused on spot, it added.

Further investigation into the case is going on, the ACB statement said.