Jaipur, May 5 -- The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Rajasthan police on Sunday arrested a Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) MLA Jaikrishn Patel while allegedly accepting Rs.20 Lakh bribe from a mine owner at his official residence. "The MLA was under our radar since April 4 following a complaint lodged by a mine owner, Ravindra Singh. On Sunday, ACB laid a trap and caught the MLA red handed," said Ravi Prakash Meharda, director general of the ACB. He further said that Patel had demanded Rs.10 crore from the complainant for three questions regarding mining Todabhim constituency in Karauli which was initially listed in the last assembly session. "The questions were regarding some mining leases. After submitting the questions, Patel approached Singh and asked to pay a Rs.10 crore bribe to drop them. Later, the bribe was finalised at Rs.2 crore after a negotiation which was decided to be paid in some instalments. Singh earlier paid Rs.100,000 while visiting him in Banswara," Meharda said. It was the second instalment that the complainant went to pay on Sunday when the agency arrested Patel red-handed from his MLA quarter in Jaipur's Jyoti Nagar. "We planned a thorough coy mission to trap him on Sunday. A prior permission was also taken from both Speaker Vasudev Devnani and chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma to conduct this mission and arrest the MLA," the official said. On Sunday morning, a team from the agency reached Patel's residence along with the complainant. "One of his staffers brought them inside and informed the MLA about their arrival. Patel was waiting in another room. Later, the staffer received the money from the complainant. He also took it to the MLA's room to show him. However, he immediately fled with the money when he saw us moving towards the MLA's room," Meharda said. The DG said that the cash could not be recovered yet while a manhunt is underway to nab that staffer. "But we have sufficient evidence against the MLA receiving the money. There is an audio-visual record of the entire incident while we have also conducted a colour-test and traced the colour of the cash on his fingers." Later, he was brought to the ACB headquarters in Jhalana Doongri for further investigation. "We are also checking the CCTV footages of the nearby areas of his MLA residence. It is yet not clear what was the MLA's interest in Singh's mines in Todabhim which doesn't even come under his constituency in the Southern Rajasthan area. We are questioning him about it." "It is the first time in Rajasthan when a sitting MLA was trapped red handed while taking bribe," he added. After former Congress minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya switched to BJP, and stepped down from the MLA's post in Banswara's Bagidora seat ahead of the general election in 2024, Patel contested from the constituency in a bypoll in November as a BAP candidate. He also won the seat at 51,434 votes against the BJP's Subhash Tamboliya while the Congress extended its support to him. Patel finished in the second position in 2023 assembly election from the same seat when Malviya bagged it. The BAP has emerged as a significant force in the tribal regions of Rajasthan. Commenting on Patel's arrest, BAP MP from Banswara-Dungarpur Rajkumar Roat said that this is a conspiracy against Patel. "We had the fear for a long time. Our MLA is a victim of bigger ploy. It is yet not clear for us which party has been part of this conspiracy and why did they give the money. It is a norm in Rajasthan that such conspiracy is hatched against any third party that might be emerging as a big player," Roat told the reporters. State home minister Jawahar Singh Bedham said, "Our government is following a zero tolerance policy to the corruption. An MLA's duty is to think about the development of the people and his region."...