Two forest section officers and a driver from the Parigi Forest Range in Vikarabad district were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on October 17 for accepting a bribe of ₹40,000.
The accused officers, Bollumalla Saikumar and Mohd. Moinuddin, both forest section officers, were trapped at their office while demanding and accepting the bribe through Balanagaram Balakrishna, an outsourced driver at the Parigi Forest Range. The payment was allegedly offered in return for periodically issuing online transit permits for vehicles transporting custard apples from the Parigi forest area to the fruit market at Batasingaram.
The bribe money was recovered from the driver’s possession, following which all three accused were arrested and produced before the special court for SPE and ACB cases in Nampally. Further investigation is underway.
The identity of the complainant has been withheld for security reasons.
Published – October 17, 2025 08:30 pm IST
