LUCKNOW, Dec. 10 -- The Uttar Pradesh vigilance establishment, Meerut sector, on Tuesday arrested Shamli's assistant commissioner of stamps Ravindra Mehta and office clerk Ashwani red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs.1 lakh, vigilance authorities said in an official statement. The trap was laid following a written complaint from a local resident who accused the two officials of demanding the money to settle a stamp duty dispute, they added. According to vigilance officials, the complainant had purchased 26 bighas of land on June 15, 2024, for Rs.90 lakh in the names of his wife Sangeeta and sister-in-law Neelam from one Sharmila, a resident of Hath Choya village in Unn tehsil, Shamli. The property was valued at Rs.1.04 crore, and stamp duty of Rs.5,01,500 was paid as per the circle rate at the time of registration. However, a notice dated December 12, 2024, was later issued from the office of the assistant commissioner/collector of stamps, Shamli, stating that the valuation should fall under the Rs.25,38,000 slab and that additional stamp duty was payable. The notice also cited discrepancies allegedly found during a site inspection ordered by the district magistrate. "Despite multiple hearings and another notice issued on February 13, 2025, the matter remained unresolved. On November 24, 2025, the complainant visited Mehta's office along with his nephew to inquire about the status. Mehta allegedly directed him to speak to Ashwini. The clerk reportedly told the complainant that the stamp duty was short by Rs.3.8 lakh and demanded an additional Rs.1 lakh as bribe to settle the case, warning that the duty would otherwise be recalculated at market rate," a senior vigilance official explained. Ashwini allegedly asked the complainant to return a week later after he had "spoken to the officer" when the complainant expressed inability to pay. On December 2, the clerk allegedly informed the complainant that Mehta had agreed to settle the case if Rs.1.6 lakh in additional stamp duty and Rs.1 lakh in bribe were paid. The official allegedly asked that even the additional stamp duty amount be handed over to him directly, saying he would "deposit it himself." During another visit on December 3, the complainant met Mehta in the presence of the clerk, and Mehta allegedly agreed to "close the matter at 50%," leaving further discussion to Ashwini, who again insisted that the bribe amount of Rs.1 lakh must be paid upfront. Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the vigilance establishment. Acting on his complaint, the Meerut sector trap team arranged marked currency and conducted a sting operation on Tuesday (December 9), apprehending Mehta and Ashwini while allegedly accepting Rs.1 lakh. During the arrest, officials also recovered four packets of cash from Mehta's laptop bag. These contained Rs.20,000, Rs.25,000, Rs.5,500 and Rs.2,700 respectively, totalling Rs.53,200 suspected to be proceeds of corruption. Authorities said a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code was being registered at the Adarsh Mandi police station in Shamli, while further investigation was ongoing....