The Bengal anti-corruption branch has arrested a regional transport officer posted at Kolkata’s Beltala transport office and an alleged middleman in connection with a bribery trap involving the renewal and modification of a commercial bus permit, according to a report by The Times of India. The arrests followed a complaint from a bus operator and an operation conducted by the anti-corruption agency on Friday.
The report states that the officer is attached to the state transport authority and was allegedly caught accepting illegal gratification along with the middleman. According to an ACB officer quoted in the report, the permit-related request involved clearance, renewal and replacement of a commercial bus permit under the authority. Investigators recovered the alleged bribe money during the operation.
The supplied report contains a material discrepancy over the amount allegedly demanded. Its headline refers to Rs 90 lakh, while the article body repeatedly states that the operator was initially asked for Rs 1 lakh and later agreed to pay Rs 90,000. The amount therefore requires confirmation from the ACB or another authoritative record before publication as an established fact.
According to the report, the bus operator approached the state anti-corruption watchdog after the alleged demand was made. The ACB then verified the complaint and arranged a trap at the time of the transaction. A senior ACB officer was quoted as saying that a corruption case had been registered and that both accused individuals were taken into custody after the operation produced what investigators described as direct evidence of illegal gratification.
The case places scrutiny on the administrative process governing commercial bus permits in Kolkata. Permit renewal, modification and replacement are essential to the continued operation of public and commercial bus services, and delays in these procedures can affect operators’ ability to keep vehicles on the road. The supplied report also says that bus operators have previously complained about procedural delays and alleged intermediary-driven corruption in permit clearances.
The report says the ACB is examining whether the incident points to a wider permit-related network at the Beltala office. Investigators are also questioning the two arrested individuals and examining whether other state transport authority officials or external agents were involved. These wider links remain under investigation and have not been established by the supplied material.
A transport department official cited in the report said internal registers and digital processing logs at the Beltala office were being audited. The stated purpose of the audit is to identify pending files that may have been deliberately delayed to extract bribes from commercial operators. The report also says that further raids and custodial interrogations were possible as the investigation progresses.
The arrests and the alleged permit transaction are therefore established in the supplied account, while the precise amount involved and the existence of any broader racket require confirmation through the ACB case record, arrest documents or an official transport department statement.
