LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Vigilance Establishment on Thursday arrested Shamli district mining officer Sudhakar Singh and a contractual employee, Saddam, allegedly while accepting an Rs 85,000 bribe to process and forward a sand-mining application.The Vigilance Establishment said Rs 50,000 was deposited by the complainant into Singh’s bank account, while the remaining amount was allegedly being collected in cash. The arrests were made on September 24 during a trap operation.Following the arrests, Vigilance officials searched the mining office and Singh’s residence. They recovered Rs8 lakh in cash from the office and approximately Rs 63 lakh from Singh’s residence, taking the total cash recovered to around Rs 71 lakh.According to the Vigilance Establishment, the complainant had submitted an online application on September 2, 2026, seeking permission to undertake sand mining on Gata No. 163 ML/6.4340.The application covered approximately 1.10 hectares and involved around 40,000 cubic metres of sand.The application, numbered AKV-260029669, was pending before district mining officer Sudhakar Singh. According to the complaint, the application was required to be forwarded online to higher authorities by the district mining officer.The complainant allegedly approached Singh at his office and requested that his pending application be forwarded. Singh allegedly referred him to Saddam, a contractual employee working in the mining office, and asked him to coordinate with him regarding the application.The complainant subsequently met Saddam on September 14 to enquire about the status of his application.According to the complaint, Saddam allegedly told him that although the application had been received, he would have to pay more than Rs 1 lakh for it to be processed further.The complainant had already deposited the prescribed government fee and reportedly possessed the receipt for the payment.Saddam allegedly subsequently instructed the complainant to deposit Rs1 lakh into an SBI account belonging to Singh, and pay Rs 30,000 to him and Rs 5,000 to another associate in cash.The complainant alleged that Saddam also told him that if he could not deposit the amount into Singh’s bank account, he could instead hand over the money in cash.The complaint alleged that the demand was being made on behalf of the district mining officer for forwarding his otherwise legitimate mining application.After receiving the complaint, the Meerut Sector Vigilance Establishment conducted a preliminary verification and intelligence-gathering exercise.According to the agency, its inquiry indicated that Singh and Saddam were allegedly involved in corrupt practices. Confidential inputs also suggested that substantial cash allegedly acquired through corrupt activities could be found at the officer’s office and residence.The Vigilance team subsequently laid a trap on September 24 and arrested Singh and Saddam while allegedly accepting Rs 85,000. The complainant had transferred Rs 50,000 to Singh’s bank account as part of the trap operation, the agency said.Following the arrests, Vigilance officials conducted searches at the mining office and Singh’s residence. The agency said Rs8 lakh in cash was recovered from the office, while approximately Rs 63 lakh was found at Singh’s residence.The Vigilance Establishment is examining the source of the cash and other material recovered during the searches.
