Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group Additional Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Soni has been arrested by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau in connection with an alleged demand for a Rs 2 crore bribe during an investigation into a multi-crore land scam linked to the Udaipur Municipal Corporation. Soni was taken into custody on Sunday from his residence in Balotra district after an alleged middleman, Sajjan Singh Jain alias Tatla, was caught accepting Rs 2 crore on Saturday. A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to criminal conspiracy.
Demand verified after complaint
According to ACB Director General Govind Gupta, the Udaipur wing of the Intelligence Unit received a complaint alleging that Soni was seeking Rs 2 crore through Jain. The complainant had previously been arrested in connection with the Udaipur Municipal Corporation land scam. The alleged bribe was sought in exchange for providing relief in the case, ensuring the complainant was not named as an accused in other matters, and returning seized documents taken from his premises during earlier arrests.
The ACB verified the allegations through recorded conversations. During the verification process, Jain arranged an in-person meeting between the complainant and Soni inside a vehicle to establish whether the demand originated from the officer. Officials stated that Soni did not speak during the encounter, instead typing and displaying the figure “Rs 2 crore” on his mobile phone screen. Following verification, the agency laid a trap at the complainant’s factory, where Jain was caught receiving the sum, of which Rs 4 lakh was recovered in Indian currency.
Origins of the municipal land scam
The enforcement action comes as a major development in an inquiry that dates back to 2004, when the Udaipur Improvement Trust transferred 30 land schemes and 16 slum pockets to the Udaipur Municipal Corporation. The investigation centers on widespread irregularities concerning property records and allotments. Plots originally allotted by the trust were automatically cancelled when allottees failed to deposit the mandatory dues, yet files for these cancelled plots were never handed over to the municipal corporation. Consequently, the civic body lacked records regarding vacant plots, prime corner plots, and cancelled allotments.
Investigators found that multiple land parcels were subsequently occupied using forged documents, allegedly facilitated by public officials. The municipal corporation formed an inquiry committee in December 2021, which submitted its findings in March 2022. While official members signed the document, elected public representatives refused to endorse the report. Based on the findings, FIRs were lodged at two Udaipur police stations before the matter was referred to the SOG’s Jodhpur unit in May 2022.
Transfer of probe and widening net
The case file was shifted to the SOG Udaipur unit in May 2023 and subsequently transferred to the SOG Ajmer unit in April 2024. Soni was supervising the investigation under the Ajmer unit when the bribery allegations surfaced. The ACB is currently scrutinizing the communication records and financial links between Soni and Jain, alongside the broader circumstances surrounding the demand and recovery. Officials are also probing whether demands were made solely to the complainant or extended to other individuals named in the land scam inquiry.
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