In a significant development that has sent shockwaves through the scientific community, Dr. Bilquees Ara Siddiqui, a respected scientist with the State Pollution Control Board in Srinagar, was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday. The arrest was made while she was allegedly accepting a bribe, according to an official statement released by the ACB.
Dr. Siddiqui, who holds the position of Scientist B in the pollution control board, was reportedly trapped and arrested for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000. The ACB stated that they had received a written complaint against Dr. Siddiqui, accusing her of demanding a bribe for the issuance of a 'Consent To Operate' (CTO) certificate for a bakery unit located at the Industrial Estate, Khunmoh.
Scientist caught red-handed
The statement further revealed that Dr. Siddiqui initially demanded Rs 20,000 as a bribe from the complainant. However, after some negotiation, the amount was settled at Rs 5,000. In the course of the investigation, a trap team was constituted by the ACB. The team successfully laid a trap and caught the accused public servant red-handed while demanding and accepting the bribe amount from the complainant. The money was recovered from the accused on the spot.
Dr. Siddiqui, daughter of Ghulam Nabi and a resident of Sarnal (Gulshan Abad) Anantnag, has been working in the Pollution Control Board as a Scientist-B. Her arrest has raised serious questions about the integrity of the scientific community and the potential for corruption within the system.
This incident is not an isolated one. It echoes a similar event from the past where a high-ranking official was caught in a corruption scandal. In 2018, a senior official from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank was arrested by the ACB for accepting a bribe in exchange for approving a loan. The official was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe, much like Dr. Siddiqui.
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