Earlier this month, a senior officer of Rajasthan’s premier police agency, the Special Operations Group (SOG), allegedly sought a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a man in lieu of getting his name cleared in the multi-crore Udaipur Municipal Corporation land scam case.Mukesh Kumar Soni is an Additional Superintendent of Police with the SOG, often touted as the “pride of Rajasthan police” for its role in exposing major drug syndicates, probing digital frauds, and cracking down on gangster networks.On Sunday, Soni was arrested by the state’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) after his alleged middleman, Sajjan Singh Jain alias Tatla, was caught “red-handed” while accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore on his behalf on Saturday.Officials said that after the complainant insisted to verify that the money was indeed for Soni, Singh arranged a meeting between the two in a car a few days ago. During the conversation, Soni did not speak at all — apparently out of fear of being recorded — and allegedly just showed a text stating “Rs 2 crore” to the complainant, officials added. A senior police officer involved in probing a high-profile scam has been caught in a Rs 2-crore bribe case. (Express Photo)After verification, the ACB laid a trap and arrested Singh while he was allegedly accepting the bribe from the complainant’s factory. Following Singh’s arrest, Soni, too, was detained at his residence in Balotra district the same day and arrested on Sunday.As per ACB Director General Govind Gupta, the Intelligence Unit’s Udaipur wing had received a complaint stating that Soni was demanding a bribe of Rs 2 crore through broker Singh in exchange for granting relief to the complainant who was earlier arrested.Soni was allegedly demanding the bribe in lieu of closing the case, not making the person an accused in other cases, and for returning documents, “which had not been confiscated”, taken from the homes of the accused during the arrests.Story continues below this adACB then verified the demand for bribe from the complainant through a conversation, which included the accused.Out of the recovered amount, Rs 4 lakh is in Indian currency, the ACB said, adding that a case has been lodged under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section for criminal conspiracy.Highly-trained unitAs per Rajasthan Police, SOG is “a highly trained and specialised unit that plays a vital role in the prevention and investigation of organised crime, terrorism, narco-trafficking and other serious crimes within the state.”The specialties of SOG include access to “state-of-the-art technology” and intelligence networks; coordination with state and central government agencies; fast and confidential action; and trained officers and personnel.Story continues below this adIts main functions include exposing big drug syndicates and networks; in-depth investigation of cases like digital fraud, forgery, hacking etc.; detection of exam paper leaks, fake certificates, illegal networks; and action against illegal arms supply and gangster networks.The present case pertains to irregularities in the transfer of some of the 30 land schemes and 16 slums to the Udaipur Municipal Corporation in 2004 by the Udaipur Improvement Trust (UIT), now known as the Udaipur Development Authority.The scamAs per Urban Development minister Jhabar Singh Kharra, who spoke on the scam in the state Assembly in August 2024, some plots allotted by the Urban Development Trust were automatically cancelled when the allottees failed to deposit the amount. However, the files for these plots were not transferred to the municipal corporation.Additionally, the corporation had no information regarding the vacant plots, corner plots, and files related to the allotments cancelled by the UIT in these schemes.Story continues below this adAllegedly, many of these land parcels were taken over by land mafia through forged documents in connivance with public officials.The investigation of the scam has itself been riddled with setbacks.In December 2021, an inquiry committee was formed by the Municipal Corporation to look into the case. The committee, which included three officers and three public representatives, submitted its report in March 2022 but it was signed only by the officers, while the public representatives refused to sign.The report had levelled charges against some officials. Subsequently, cases were lodged at two police stations in Udaipur, which were then handed over to the SOG Unit, Jodhpur, in May 2022.Story continues below this adThe case was then transferred to the SOG Udaipur unit in May 2023, and then to SOG Ajmer unit in April 2024, which was presently investigating the case.“The investigation is currently being conducted by the Additional Superintendent of Police, SOG Unit, Ajmer. Upon completion of the investigation, legal proceedings will be initiated against the then Municipal Corporation Commissioner and other culpable personnel, officers, and public servants in the competent court, and action will be taken to reclaim the suspect plots of land back into government possession,” Kharra had said in August 2024.Over two years later, the lead investigator now stands arrested.Earlier, incumbent Punjab Governor and former Rajasthan Home Minister and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly, Gulab Chand Kataria, had reportedly termed it a Rs 500-crore scam.