Patna: In a crackdown on corruption, the Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) registered its 50th case of 2026 on April 29, marking the fastest milestone in the last six years. By comparison, the 50th case in 2025 was recorded on July 9, while in 2024 and 2023 the total stood at just 12 and 36 cases respectively for the entire year.
Director general of VIB Jitendra Singh Gangwar said, “Acting swiftly on complaints, the Bureau has filed 45 trap cases and five disproportionate assets (DA) cases till April 29 this year. Revenue & land reforms tops the list with 8 traps, followed by the police department with 7, panchayati raj with 4 and health with 3.”
Of the cases, eight major traps involved bribes of Rs 50,000 or more. The highest was Rs 5 lakh, allegedly taken by Paramjay Singh, assistant director, youth employment & skill development department, who was arrested on February 6 from Niyojan Bhawan, Patna.
In February, one case was registered involving Rakesh Kumar, block development officer of Nagar Block, Gaya, who was caught taking a Rs 50,000 bribe.
March saw two cases. A data entry operator and an attendant from the Vaishali mining office were caught on March 25 with Rs 50,000, while a steno and clerk from the Bhagalpur SDO office were arrested on March 30 with Rs 70,000.
April saw intensified action with four trap cases. On April 2, Mukesh Kumar, branch officer in the Munger commissioner’s office, was caught with Rs 1.7 lakh. On April 25, Devkant Kumar, assistant sub-inspector of Rajgir police station in Nalanda, was trapped with Rs 90,000. On April 28, Md Sanaullah Khan, assistant registrar of Maulana Mazharul Haque University in Patna, was arrested with Rs 2.5 lakh.
The 50th trap was made on April 30, when Anil Ram, clerk at Rosera sub-divisional hospital in Samastipur, was caught red-handed taking Rs 1 lakh near Sub-Division Chowk following a case registered a day earlier.
