CBI arrests sub-registrar, reader, 2 others in Delhi for 'bribery'

The CBI has arrested a sub-registrar and a reader posted at the sub-registrar's office at Kashmere Gate here, along with two private persons, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000, officials said on Thursday.

The federal agency said Sub-Registrar Pankaj Kumar Yadav and reader Ravinder Dabas, working in the revenue department, had allegedly sought a bribe in connivance with private individuals for processing a sale deed.

''The accused public servants in connivance with private persons had demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 in lieu of providing sale deed/registry to the complainant,'' a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson said in a statement.

It was further alleged that the accused had ''threatened'' that if the bribe was not paid, the client's documents or sale deed would be objected to by embossing those with a red seal and sent to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

The CBI registered a case on January 7 against the accused persons and unidentified others.

The agency laid a trap on Wednesday and caught a middleman red-handed while he was allegedly accepting the bribe on behalf of the government officials.

The sub-registrar, the reader and another private person were subsequently arrested, the agency said.