BHUBANESWAR, Sept 12 (Askume) – The chief manufacturing officer of India’s Adani Group-backed Ambuja Cement Co in Chhattisgarh has been arrested on suspicion of trying to bribe government officials, the vigilance bureau in neighbouring Odisha said.
Police officer Rambhav Gattu presented a bouquet of flowers and a packet of sweets to a tax collector in Odisha’s Bargarh district, which was later found to contain 200,000 Indian rupees ($2,382) in cash, which should be the duty of the tax officer, the bureau said in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement said the official has been booked for “attempting to seduce a public servant” but did not say how much the official would be paid in return.
“The accused has been arrested and will be produced in court. Investigation into the case is ongoing,” the statement said.
Ambuja Cements and the Adani Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gatto and his representatives could not immediately be reached.
The federal government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has listed corruption as one of the practices it wants to stamp out. Modi said in July that he had “left it” to central agencies to take action against corrupt elements.
(1 USD = 83.9790 Indian Rupees)
