Jaipur, January 9 (Udaipur Kiran) : The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday caught Vishnu Chand Goyal, Superintending Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Circle Jhalawar, red-handed while accepting a bribe in the form of an Apple iPhone XR worth ₹84,000.

The action was carried out by the ACB Jhalawar unit following directions from the ACB headquarters. The accused was arrested while receiving the mobile phone from the complainant as illegal gratification.

ACB Director General Govind Gupta said that a complaint was received on January 5, 2026, alleging that the complainant was engaged in handpump repair, pipeline leakage repair and land connection works under the PHED division, Jhalawar. The complainant stated that ₹25,000 had already been taken earlier in the name of registration. He further alleged that he and his partner were being harassed, objections were being raised in their work, and they were threatened with removal from the project.

According to the complaint, the accused had been demanding an iPhone since August and also accused the complainant of submitting fake labour bills, threatening debarment. When the complainant approached the Superintending Engineer regarding pending bills and harassment, the officer allegedly demanded an iPhone 16 Pro as a bribe in return for clearing the bills and not causing further trouble.

On January 7, 2026, ACB conducted a confidential verification of the bribery demand, during which the demand for an iPhone was confirmed. Following this, a trap was laid on January 9, 2026. As per the plan, the complainant presented an Apple iPhone XR, purchased in his own name as instructed by the accused, at the office.

Under the supervision of Kota Range Deputy Inspector General of Police Anand Sharma and the direction of Additional Superintendent of Police Dr Prerna Shekhawat, the trap operation was executed by Inspector Sajid Khan and his team. The accused was caught red-handed while accepting the iPhone as a bribe.

Under the direction of Additional Director General of Police Smita Srivastava, further interrogation of the accused and searches at his residence are underway. A case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further investigation is in progress.