A Chhattisgarh-based woman branch postmaster's resolve to fight injustice has resulted in a CBI FIR against her senior who allegedly tried to blackmail her into paying a bribe of Rs 60,000 to overlook suspected lapses on her part.
Nirjala Manhare, Branch Post Master (BPM), Deosundra Post Office, District Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh, stood up to the unfair treatment by Mail Overseer Rajesh Patel and reported his attempts to demand Rs 60,000 earlier this week.
To bolster her complaint Manhare, recorded telephone conversations with Patel during which she tried to negotiate the bribe amount and request him to take the Rs 60,000 amount in instalments.
The CBI has now booked Patel under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) and entrusted the investigation to a team of CBI, ACB, Raipur, headed by a woman investigator.
The FIR said a written complaint was received on November 19 from Manhare, Branch Post Master, regarding a demand for a bribe of Rs 60,000 by Rajesh Patel, Mail Overseer, based at the office of Sub Divisional Inspector of Post, Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh, to settle the matter and thereby not take action over the mistakes found on her part in the inspection conducted on October 22.
The FIR said the allegations mentioned in the complaint were verified in the presence of independent witnesses.
"The complaint as well as the verification of the said complaint, prima facie, disclose that Rajesh Patel demanded a bribe of Rs 60,000. He agreed to accept the bribe amounting to Rs 60,000 in installments - first Rs 40,000 and the remaining Rs 20,000 later," said the FIR.
The CBI FIR noted that Rajesh Patel also threatened her that if she tried to record their conversation, nothing would happen to him, whereas she would end up getting removed from service.
(With inputs from IANS)
