The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a postal official in Ara, Bhojpur district, Bihar, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a branch postmaster. The arrest was made on the evening of Sunday, 4 October 2026, from government quarters inside the Ara Head Post Office complex, after the agency verified a complaint and laid a trap.
The arrest
The accused has been identified as Purushottam Kumar. He was earlier posted as an overseer attached to the Ara Head Post Office and the Ara sub-divisional office. Local reports state that he had been promoted and transferred only about two days before the trap, and was serving as a postal assistant at the Arwal sub-divisional office under the Aurangabad postal division. He is a resident of Bhagwatpur–Tapa Jalpura under Koilwar block, in the Chandi police-station area, and was still occupying quarters in the Ara Head Post Office complex with his family.
According to the IANS agency report, the CBI arrested him after confirming the complaint and arranging a trap. The complainant went to the quarters and handed over Rs 10,000. When the CBI team moved in, Purushottam Kumar allegedly threw the notes. The team recovered the money at the spot and took him into custody. A local account of the trap states that the currency had been treated with a chemical, that his hands were tested in water, and that the coloured solution was sealed as evidence. The team is also reported to have searched the quarters and remained in the complex for about three hours before taking him away. He was later taken to Patna for questioning.
The allegation
The more detailed account, published by Dainik Jagran on 6 October, identifies the complainant as Sandeep Kumar, Branch Postmaster (BPM) of the Chhotki Sasaram branch post office in Udwantnagar block. He is reported to have joined the post on or around 1 July 2026. His salary for about two to three months had remained pending.
An FIR was registered on 4 October 2026 against Sub-Divisional Inspector Gaurav Kumar and Postal Assistant Purushottam Kumar under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The allegation is that the two demanded Rs 10,000 for release of the pending salary, and that non-payment was linked to threats of termination or continued withholding of pay. According to the complaint, Sandeep Kumar was called to the Ara North sub-divisional office on 26 September 2026, where Inspector Gaurav Kumar repeated the demand and is alleged to have assured that the salary would be released by 30 September if the amount was paid. Sandeep Kumar then approached the CBI Anti-Corruption Branch in Patna.
Earlier reports described the complainant more generally as a Gramin Dak Sevak (GDS) and referred to demands linked to official work and file signatures, including a claim of a recurring quarterly demand of Rs 10,000. The later reporting names the complainant and ties the demand specifically to release of the BPM’s salary. A branch postmaster is a GDS-cadre post, so the two descriptions are not necessarily in conflict.
Second accused still at large
Inspector Gaurav Kumar, posted with the North zone of the Ara postal division, has not been arrested. The CBI is reported to have searched for him on Sunday night in Patna, including a residential colony near Beur Jail, without success. A follow-up report in Dainik Bhaskar states that, during questioning, Purushottam Kumar told investigators he had collected the money on Gaurav Kumar’s instructions, and that the agency pasted a notice at the inspector’s house. The inspector remains absconding, and investigators are examining call records and other electronic material.
The CBI is reported to have recovered electronic evidence and documents, and is examining the chain from the alleged demand to the withholding of salary. Purushottam Kumar was to be produced before the CBI Special Court in Patna. The case remains under investigation, and the allegations have not yet been tested in court.
