CBI Arrests Ara Postal Assistant in ₹10,000 Bribery Trap, Inspector Gaurav Kumar Absconding

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a postal employee in Ara, Bihar, after he was allegedly caught accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a branch postmaster in a case linked to the release of pending salary. The arrest was carried out 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 accused has been identified as Purushottam Kumar. He had earlier been posted as an overseer attached to the Ara Head Post Office and the Ara sub-divisional office, and local reports say he had been promoted and transferred only around two days before the trap. At the time of the arrest, he 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, but was still staying with his family in the quarters at the Ara Head Post Office complex.

According to the IANS report, the CBI arrested Purushottam Kumar after confirming the complaint and setting up a trap. The complainant reportedly went to the quarters and handed over the Rs 10,000. When the CBI team moved in, Kumar allegedly threw the notes. The money was recovered on the spot and he was taken into custody. A local account of the operation says the currency had been treated with a chemical, that Kumar’s hands were tested in water, and that the coloured solution was sealed as evidence. The team also searched the quarters and remained at the complex for about three hours before taking him away. He was later taken to Patna for questioning.

The complaint and alleged demand

A more detailed account published by Dainik Jagran on 6 October identifies the complainant as Sandeep Kumar, the Branch Postmaster of the Chhotki Sasaram branch post office in Udwantnagar block. He is reported to have joined the post on or around 1 July 2026, and his salary for about two to three months had remained pending.

According to that report, 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 the release of the pending salary, and that non-payment was linked to threats of termination or continued withholding of pay.

The complaint further states that Sandeep Kumar was called to the Ara North sub-divisional office on 26 September 2026, where Inspector Gaurav Kumar allegedly repeated the demand and assured him 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 had 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 alleged demand specifically to the release of the BPM’s salary. Since a branch postmaster is a GDS-cadre post, the two descriptions are not necessarily inconsistent.

Inspector Gaurav Kumar remains absconding

Inspector Gaurav Kumar, who is 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 at a residential colony near Beur Jail, but did not find him. A follow-up report in Dainik Bhaskar says Purushottam Kumar told investigators during questioning that he had collected the money on Gaurav Kumar’s instructions, and that the agency pasted a notice at the inspector’s house. Gaurav Kumar remains absconding, while investigators examine call records and other electronic material.

The CBI is also 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.