Sukma : An education department officer in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district has been arrested by the state's Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 for the payment of arrears to a woman employee, officials said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Chandra Kumar Yarda, Block Education Officer in Konta, was caught red-handed on Wednesday while accepting the bribe from the complainant Kawasi Mangal Ram, an ACB official said.

In a complaint lodged at the ACB office in Jagdalpur, Mangal Ram, a resident of Misma in Sukma, said his wife, Kawasi Sushila, posted as the Superintendent at Kanya Ashram (government-run residential school for girls) in Dubbatota, was due to receive an arrears payment of Rs 16 lakh following the fixation of her pay scale.

The accused allegedly sought 5 per cent of the total arrears amount as a bribe, amounting to Rs 80,000 for facilitating the payment, he said.

After the officer agreed to accept Rs 10,000 as the first instalment, the ACB laid a trap on Wednesday and caught him red-handed, he said.

The accused was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, he said, adding that further probe is underway.

This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.