Thiruvananthapuram  (PTI): A Deputy General Manager of the Indian Oil Corporation has been arrested while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a gas agency owner here, officials said.

Alex Mathew, the DGM at IOC's Ernakulam office, was caught red-handed at the complainant's residence in Kuravankonam around 7.30 pm on Saturday by officers of the Special Investigation Unit-1 of the Vigilance Department, an official statement said. According to the Vigilance Department, Matthew had allegedly demanded Rs 10 lakh from the complainant to prevent the transfer of customers from his wife's IOC-licensed gas agency to other agencies.

When the complainant refused, the official allegedly transferred 1,200 connections to other agencies, it said.

The accused later warned the complainant that more customer connections would be reassigned if the bribe was not paid upon his visit to Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.

Following the threat, the gas agency owner informed the Vigilance Department, which laid a trap and arrested Mathew while accepting the bribe, the statement said.

The accused will be produced before a vigilance court, it added.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Srinagar (PTI): Property worth Rs 1 crore belonging to a notorious drug peddler was on Saturday attached in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar, police said.

A double-storey house on eight marlas of land situated at Wantpora Eidgah, belonging to Basit Bilal Dar, a notorious drug peddler, valued at approximately Rs 1 crore, a police spokesperson said.

He said Dar is involved in two cases registered under various sections of the NDPS Act.

During investigation, it was established that the accused had acquired the said property through illicit proceeds generated from drug trafficking activities, the spokesperson said.

Consequently, the property was attached under the provisions of the NDPS Act. The attachment proceedings were conducted in the presence of the two independent witnesses, strictly in accordance with the prescribed legal procedures, he said.

As per the attachment order, the owner has been restrained from selling, leasing, transferring, altering, or creating any third-party interest in the property till further orders, the spokesperson added.