Dinesh M.N
Born	(1971-09-06) 6 September 1971 (age 50) Munganahalli
Police career
Department	Anti Corruption Bureau Rajasthan
Rank	Additional Director General of Police

Munganahalli Narayanaswamy Dinesh is an Indian Police Service officer from Karnataka who currently serving as Additional Director General of Police of Anti Corruption Bureau of Rajasthan.^[1][2]

Dinesh MN is a 1995 batch Indian Police Service officer belonging to Rajasthan Cadre and serving as Additional Director General of Police in Anti Corruption Bureau, Rajasthan. He hails from Karnataka state. He is a popular police officer who also had to serve seven years in Jail in the Sohrabuddin- Tulsiram Prajapati encounter cases. After coming out of jail in 2014 May, he shot to fame when he led ACB Rajasthan as IG to unearth major corruption racket in Mining department leading to arrest of 1983 batch IAS Officer Ashok Singhvi who was working as Mines Secretary. Also under his supervision as IG SOG Rajasthan, dreaded gangster Anand Pal Singh carrying a reward of 5 lakhs was killed in an Encounter with SOG and Police Teams in June 2017 and his gang was neutralised.^[3]

Early life[edit]

Dinesh MN was born on 6 September 1971 in Munaganahalli village,of Chintamani Tehsil in Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka.

In the name of Dinesh MN, M means his village Munaganahalli and N means his father's name is Narayana Swamy.

Dinesh MN holds BE degree in Electronics and communication and graduated from BDT Collage engineering Davanagere Karnataka in the year 1993. Dinesh MN became an Indian Police Service officer in 1995 and was allotted to Rajasthan cadre.^[4]

His hobbies include lawn tennis, reading, and yoga.^[5]

Police career[edit]

Dinesh MN got selected into IPS in 1995 and joined LBSSNAA at Mussoorie for Foundation course on 4 September 1996. He joined NPA at Hyderabad and completed Basic Police training Course by October 97 and joined Rajasthan for District training at Jodhpur. After Kashmir Attachment, Army attachment and Phase 2 training at Hyderabad he completed two years training by September 98.

ASP Dausa (September 1998- March 1999)[edit]

His first posting in independent charge was as ASP Dausa. Dausa had gained notoriety for Repoll of Repoll  at a voting booth in 96 Loksabha elections. Conducting peaceful elections was the first priority as elections were to be held in next two months. Under the guidance of SP Dausa Dalpat Singh Dinakar,  he launched a drive against history shelters, habitual offenders, wanted criminals, property offenders, bootleggers, warantees and other anti social elements. Being from Karnataka communicating in Hindi was little difficult for him initially but he picked up gradually. Continuous pressure on rabid elements and neutrality in actions ensured event free elections without re poll in his jurisdiction.

ASP Gandhinagar Jaipur[edit]

He joined as ASP Gandhinagar at Jaipur during March 1999 in the backdrop of two disturbing events in Rajasthan University. There was a murder of a student at Vivekananda hostel and a student Nishant Bharadhwaj had died after succumbing to injuries caused by self immolation near University gate and the students had gone berserk and attacked the police. Guided by the Professional team of Ajit Singh DIG, Saurabh Srivastav SP and BL Soni SP, a semblance discipline was restored to Rajasthan University and wrong doers were booked. However, during Student elections in December police had to resort to lathicharge after a police man was hit by a stone.

Tourism mafia was active in Jaipur then, Known hardcore criminals aided by few unscrupulous Handicraft establishments had divided Jaipur city into areas of dominance. Turf wars resulted in firings and murders. Tourist mafia had different methods to cheat Indian and foreign tourists. Dibbabazi was a successful method of conning gullible foreigners. All the gangs were identified, their doziers prepared and they were booked in relevant sections of law. Massive crackdown on them by Dinesh led to arrests of more than 200 antisocial elements who were part of Tourism mafia. This brought down their activities considerably and got Dinesh a new epithet in their parlance ‘Anna’.

   During early 2000, recovery of a person by Dinesh allegedly picked up by a media house led to controversy and the issue was raised in Rajasthan Assembly.^[6]

SP Karauli (May 2000- April 2002)[edit]

Dinesh MN joined Karauli District in Eastern Rajasthan on promotion as Superintendent of Police in May 2000. Karauli separated from Madhya Pradesh by Chambal river was infested with Dacoits, idol thieves and was known to be a troubled district. His joining coincided with a kidnapping case by Suraj Mali gang. Ram Singh, Shiv Singh, Vijay Singh, Suraj Mali, Banno Gujar, Jagan Gurjer, Ramkumar Meena, Purushottam, Mallah, Rawat and other gangs from Karauli, Dholpur, Bharatpur, Sawaimadhopur and Madhya Pradesh were active indulging in Extortions, Murders, Kidnappings and other crimes.^[7]

Anti Dacoity Operations in Chambal Ravines[edit]

Karauli police under supervision of Dinesh MN launched aggressive operations against these gangs and neutralised nearly 10-12 gangs in a period of 2 years. Banno Gujar, Suraj Mali, Purushottam and Jagmohan were killed in Encounters with Police and other gang leaders and their members were either arrested or surrendered. When he got transferred out of Karauli in April 2002 only Ram Singh gang was left who still terrorised the Chambal Ravines. There were serious allegations against Police in Purushottam and Jagmohan encounters. It was alleged that they were killed in cold blood and there were not any serious Criminal Cases against them. A series of agitations by their community and local political support led to enquiries and investigations by CID Team of Jaipur under supervision of an IG which eventually absolved Police of their charges.

Timangarh Fort - Idol Thieves[edit]

Thousand year Timangarh Fort is a historical fort near Masalpur of Karauli district which was once a thriving township with palaces, bazaars, temples and residential quarters which over the years became dilapidated and forgotten. Among its ruins treasures and valuable idols have been found which led to idol thieves to feast on its remains. Indian Express in 2001 had reported that idols were once lifted out of Timangarh in Helicopters. Raids by Karauli Police based on credible information in 2001 led to recovery of many precious idols and arrests of idols lifters. Investigations revealed that a very ornate beautiful Surya Bhagwan idol was stolen and Idol smugglers from Agra were bargaining with Karauli idol thieves. Successive raids led to law and order situations and cases were transferred to CID. The doggedness of Dinesh MN paid off and the cases came back to Karauli and the Surya Bhagwan idol was recovered and culprits arrested by a dynamic SI Rajesh Yadav. People of Karauli thronged to Police Station in Karauli to have Darshan of this rare idol.^[8]

Aggressive and people friendly policing in Karauli led to many heinous crimes being solved and law and order situations contained. People perceived the fear of law among wrongdoers.^[9]

SP Sawaimadhopur (April 2002- September 2002)[edit]

Communal violence in Gangapur City of Sawaimadhopur led to death of 3 persons in Police Firing in March 2002. The then SP Sawaimadhopur was removed and Dinesh MN was called back from leave and Posted as SP Sawaimadhopur in April 2002 to control the communal situation.

Under his supervision Sawaimadhopur Police brought back the normalcy in Gangapur City within a week.

Ramsingh ( Ramswaroop ) Dacoit Operation[edit]

Ramsingh was a very notorious and feared Dacoit who eluded police for nearly twenty years committing heinous crimes Year after year. He was wanted in more than 80 cases of Murder, Kidnapping, Dacoity and loot. He had committed more than 20 murders, the first being in 1980. He once killed a whole family of five in one night in Kailadevi. He along with his concubine Surjo once killed two brothers just for expressing inability to provide them onions in the lunch he forcefully demanded from them. Surjo was a bride kidnapped from her marriage by Ramsingh who later became a feared member of his gang  who whipped the victims with a hunter she always carried. Police never had a photograph of Ramsingh.^[10] His writ ran over Karauli, Sawaimadhopur, Dausa, Dholpur, Bundi, Bharatpur and adjoining areas of Madhya Pradesh. He decided who would cultivate on banks of Banas river in winters, which truck or tractor would transport the Very tasty and high quality melons grown in the area, where a school be built and even who would marry whom in his community. Since police was not successful in arresting him for 20 years, legends grew around him. It was believed by his followers that he had blessings of Kailadevi Mata, he could sense police presence from far, police bullets can not touch him and will turn to water when they near him, police will go blind when they approach him. When someone is not caught for two decades, such stories and beliefs get credence among the gullible. One senior police man once told Dinesh MN that Ramsingh is like God, he can not be seen but his presence can be felt always and in those affected areas.^[11]

Dinesh had been working against this gang since Karauli days with a dedicated team under Ramnath Singh SI, a brilliant young police official belonging to same community as Ramsingh Dacoit. The team carefully analysed the reasons for failure to catch him for twenty years and built the whole operation on the lessons learnt from those failures. They started booking cases against his supporters mostly from his community who were grouped into four categories of

1. Core members- who planned and executed crimes and gave crucial inputs 2. casual members- who provided food shelter and information about police movements

3. conduits- who facilitated gang movement from one place to other doing recce and providing transportation when needed

4. pressure groups- including few advocates and politicians who mounted pressure against police operations by complaining to NHRC, courts or their leaders in Government for whom their votes mattered.                                           

Once the core group was isolated by booking cases and arresting the other three groups, pressure started to build on core members and when police felt one of them had reached the breaking point he was picked up on 14 th April 2002.

He led police to Gojari village of Malarna Dungar Police Station limits of Sawaimadhopur. A fierce gun battle with Ramnath team led to death of Ramsingh and his accomplice Vishnu Rebari on 17 April 2002. A carbine, 4 HE-36 hand grenades and other weapons were recovered. Large numbers of people turned out to have a look at his body, Indian Express and Dainik Navjyoti pegged the numbers to nearly forty thousand.

This was the last Dacoit gang active at that time in Chambal ravines of Rajasthan. Eleven of the team members got one step promotion within a fortnight. Dinesh MN was felicitated by Governor on 15 August 2002 with a Pistol and a commendation letter.^[12]

Ranthambore National Park problem[edit]

Illegal grazing had been a permanent problem in Ranthambore National Park which is most famed for good Tiger sightings. Villagers argued that Park had been their traditional age old grazing ground and the Forest Department alleged that grazing threatened Tiger conservation and also allowed easy hiding and poaching for antisocial elements. Clashes of villagers with authorities in August 2002 led to law and order disturbances and police had to resort to firing in which many villagers were injured and police also suffered heavy injuries. This snowballed into a major confrontation between authorities and villagers backed by local politicians. Dinesh MN was transferred out of Sawaimadhopur on 6 September 2002 and made APO on this issue. People of Sawaimadhopur expressed their resentment by resorting to Bandh and agitations against this transfer.^[13]

Later WWF PATA award was given to Dinesh for his contributions in the area of Tiger Conservation.

SP Jhunjhunu (May 2003- July 2004)[edit]

Jhunjhunu is an important district in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan which gave highest  Kargil martyrs and military men to the country. This district is Known for Education, Enterprise and willingness for Uniformed services.

Two elections were held during tenure of Dinesh MN. Strict actions against antisocial elements, bootleggers and hardcore criminals ensured peaceful conduction of 2003 Assembly and 2004 Parliamentary elections.  Betting, better known as Satta is highly prevalent in this region and those involved get very active and try to influence elections . Action against some of such elements angered the local politicians and Dinesh was transferred to Rajasthan Police Academy in July 2004.^[14][15]

SP Udaipur (August 2004- April 2007)[edit]

This was the district where Dinesh MN attained great heights popularity for his strict and no nonsense kind of policing, but also got  into rigmarole of legal labyrinth and personal difficulties.

    Sarada is a sleepy town in Udaipur district. A murder of a tribal youth by a hardcore criminal plunged the town into communal frenzy and police had to resort to firing in July 2004. Dinesh was transferred to Udaipur as SP on August 4, 2004, to contain the communal situation where there were apprehensions of a tribal attack on town.

Dinesh started rounding up all antisocial elements and increased police presence throughout the district. He also launched intense drives against wanted criminals, bootleggers, extortionists, drug peddlers, property offenders, hardcore criminals and organised crime.  Starting of ‘Hawk’ , vehicles with mobile connection doing 24 hrs patrolling thus providing easy accessibility to police services brought down the crime rate in Udaipur within 2–3 months. Udaipur was always known for gang rivalries and organised gangs existed because of liquor smuggling to Gujrat which had prohibition.  But the Uneasy calm in gang activities for nearly 5 months was soon to end.^[16] On 31 December 2004 when Udaipur police was celebrating the success of arrest of one hardcore criminal Rashid carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 from State Government and wanted for eight years, another history sheeter Hamid Lala was gunned down by 3 unknown assailants on bike at Hathipole which is heart of Udaipur City. Investigations revealed that Azam gang was involved and most accused were arrested. Involvement of one Sohrabuddin, a Hardcore criminal of Ujjain and his shooter Tulsiram Prajapati sent Udaipur police to Madhya Pradesh in their search.  State Government declared Rs 25,000 for arrest of Sohrabuddin who was once caught with 24 AK 56 weapons, many HE 36 hand grenades and nearly 5,000 AK 56 bullets by Ahmedabad Crime branch.

News papers had then reported that this arms consignment was part of 1993 Mumbai blast arms and explosives which were procured by Abdul Latif from Pakistan ISI. Sohrabuddin was a close associate of Ahmedabad Mafia Don Abdul Latif.  He was convicted in TADA and had escaped from Bail and had committed some murders and extortions in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Tulsiram Prajapati had initially started off as a thief but later became a dreaded shooter under the tutelage of Sohrabuddin.^[17]

   After the Hamid Lala murder Udaipur police went on a drive against known criminals more aggressively and increased patrolling which brought back the peace to District.  No major Crimes or Law and Order disturbances were reported. Tourism, Liquor, land  and drug mafia activities were brought under control. 

Major crimes like murders and Dacoity were worked out and offenders put behind bars. Trust of Public and fear of Criminals increased regarding Udaipur Police under energetic policing of Dinesh MN and he attained an image of an officer working with integrity, determination and professionalism.^[18]

In November 2005 news papers reported that Sohrabuddin was killed in an encounter by Gujrat and Rajasthan Police.  Tulsiram Prajapati was arrested by end of 2005 and lodged in Udaipur Central Jail. However, according to media reports he was killed in an encounter with Rajasthan and Gujarat Police in December 2006 while he escaped from Police Custody while he was being brought back to Udaipur from Ahmedabad Court hearing.^[19]

Rishabhdev - Law and Order[edit]

Kesariya ji Mandir is a temple in which the deity was worshipped with equal reverence by Hindus as Vishnu Bhagwan, Jains as Thirthankara Rishabha and by tribals as Kale Baba. A Supreme Court order during at the beginning of the year 2007 regarding the ownership of the temple started a chain of events which engulfed  not just Udaipur but all the districts surrounding it in violence and disturbances.

Temple was an important part of tribal culture where the blessing of the deity was sought in every important event like birth, marriage or even death. Tribals felt their entry to Temple would be snatched from them and their entry into temple would be banned forever. They responded to their traditional call of Dhol, beating of drums asking them to gather because of any threat and attacked Rishabh Dev town.

Under SP Dinesh MN, Udaipur police had to resort to lathicharge, tear gas shells and even firing for 3 days. Ammunition of almost half of Rajasthan was used and the disturbances resulted in huge loss of property and death of a tribal. Many policemen including SP Dinesh were injured and peace was restored after 3–4 days of negotiations with tribal leaders and local politicians.^[20][21]

SP Alwar (April 9-April 24, 2007)[edit]

Dinesh MN joined Alwar as SP in the backdrop of ongoing investigations into Sohrabuddin Encounter in Gujarat. On 24.4.2007 Gujarat CID arrested Dinesh MN along with DG Vanzara DIG and Rajkumar Pandian SP from Gujarat.

Dinesh had told his staff in Alwar and his wife that he would come back to Alwar in 2 days when he left for Ahmedabad on 20.4.2007.

Agitations against arrest of Dinesh[edit]

Sudden arrest of three IPS officers shocked the whole country and Rajasthan erupted in anger against arrest of Dinesh MN. Dinesh had gained immense popularity among public where ever he worked for his integrity, determination to curb crime, friendly approach to people and tough action against hardcore criminals or bandits of Chambal.^[22]

Vasundhara Raje, the then Chief Minister of Rajasthan sent Gulab Chand Kataria, the then Home Minister, VS Singh Home Secretary and AS Gill DGP of Rajasthan to Ahmedabad to lodge protest against arrest of their trusted officer with Gujrat Government. Gulab Chand Kataria vouched for integrity of Dinesh MN asking media to call any telephone number in Rajasthan and that they would get a positive feedback about the arrested officer.^[23]

Many districts where Dinesh had worked erupted in anger and the entire police force stood by him. There were agitations across the state and were more pronounced in Alwar, Udaipur, Dausa, Karauli, Sawaimadhopur and Jhunjhunu. Even though Dinesh remained in Alwar for just a fortnight they resorted to Bandh, Dharna and other forms of protest. They stopped trains going to Gujrat. Posters in support of Dinesh MN were pasted on trains, buses and other vehicles and a huge poster of Dinesh MN was erected in the middle of the city.

Protests in Udaipur lasted longer and were more widespread. The anguish, disbelief and a sense of injustice poured the people into streets. A historical bandh was organised on 1.5.2007 in Udaipur and marches, dharnas continued for a month. People felt Dinesh had worked for their safety and the Udaipur police teams risked their lives and careers in those encounters to keep Udaipur crime free. Media reported heartwarming stories of People conducting Poojas, yagnas, fasts, prayers and leaving one time meal for safe and early return of Dinesh MN to the state of Rajasthan. One person was arrested by police trying to commit self immolation in protest of arrest of Dinesh MN.

Even Pratapgarh town in  Chittaurgarh district observed bandh where Dinesh had gone for two days in January 2007 to solve a sensational murder.^[24]

The Police force of Rajasthan expressed their anger by boycotting mess and wearing black band on their sleeves.^[25] Many policemen across the ranks rushed to Ahmedabad to express solidarity and extend support. Many could not meet Dinesh MN as he was in Police Custody. They carried money to help Dinesh in his legal expenses.^[26] Udaipur police collected money to fund the case in court but was politely refused by Mr Kempaiah IPS a celebrated Police official of Karnataka and Father in law of Dinesh who was camping in Ahmedabad along with father of Dinesh to procure bail.^[27][28][29]

Sohrabuddin- Tulsiram Prajapati Encounter Cases[edit]

Family of Sohrabuddin had approached Supreme Court in beginning of 2006 alleging that police had killed Sohrabuddin  in fake encounter and his wife Kausar Bi was missing . Gujrat CID started enquiry and extracted a statement from one Gujrat Police Constable working in ATS, incriminating both ATS officers and Udaipur police officers in the encounter. Even though the Constable retracted from his statement, the family filed a writ in Supreme Court asking for CBI Investigation in Sohrabuddin encounter. The Gujrat State CID started its own investigation. On 24.4.2007 CID arrested DG Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian of ATS and Dinesh MN of Rajasthan and submitted a report stating that Sohrabuddin was killed in a fake encounter.  Under  Supreme Court monitoring the Gujrat CID arrested Abdul Rahman CI, Himanshu Singh SI, Shyam Singh SI if Rajasthan Police, DySPs  ML Parmar, Narendra Amin,  CIs Narayan Dhabi, Balakrishna Choubey, SI Chouhan, Constables Ajay Parmar and Santram Sharma of Gujrat Police and submitted a charge sheet against all the 13 policemen by July 2007 in Ahmedabad court. The Chargesheet stated that Sohrabuddin and his wife were picked up by Gujrat ATS before encounter and Kauser Bi was also killed and her body was disposed off which could not be recovered. However Tulsiram was not picked up along with them. All accused were lodged in Sardar Yard of Sabarmati Central Jail where once the revered leader Sardar Patel was also kept by British Government during Freedom Struggle of India.^[30] Dinesh was granted bail by Ahmedabad sessions court in October 2007 and walked out of jail to warm reception at Jaipur Airport. He was asked not to travel by road through Udaipur because large crowds had started gathering to receive him at Gujrat and Rajasthan border. The bail got canceled by Gujrat High Court and the cancellation was upheld by Supreme Court. So Dinesh surrendered again before Ahmedabad Sessions court and walked back to Sabarmati Central Jail on February 22, 2008 after spending four and half months out of jail. Successive attempts to get bail did not yield results and by September 2009 Supreme Court stayed the proceedings in Ahmedabad Sessions Court and trial could not begin. In January 2010 the investigation of Sohrabuddin case was transferred to CBI from CID Gujrat to investigate the larger conspiracy and establish the missing links in the case. Various teams of CBI at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Udaipur, Sangli and other places further investigated the case. They arrested  the then Home Minister of Gujrat and Abhay Chudasma IPS along with few others and submitted Chargesheet against these new accused and the earlier 13 by July 2010.

  By July 2010 CID Gujarat arrested Dinesh MN and DG Vanzara along with other police officers of Udaipur and Palanpur in Tulsiram Prajapati encounter case. In the beginning of 2011 even Tulsiram case got transferred to CBI which they Chargesheeted in September 2012.

In November 2012 the trial of both cases got shifted to Mumbai and all accused in Sohrabuddin case were also shifted to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai. By April 2013 Supreme Court clubbed both Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram Cases stating that it was a continuous conspiracy and single trial should be conducted for these cases. Dinesh MN got bail on April 28, 2014, and walked out of Taloja Central Jail on 6.5.2014. News of Dinesh's bail was celebrated throughout Rajasthan by Policemen and public equally. Crackers were burst in Udaipur streets and some police stations.

   Various accused started getting discharged from the case by 2015. Dinesh MN also submitted Discharge application which was heard by end of June 2017 in the CBI Special Court. On August 1, 2017, Dinesh MN got discharged in Sohrabuddin- Tulsiram Encounter Case along with DG Vanzara.

However this discharge was challenged by the brother of Sohrabuddin in Mumbai High Court which on 6.9.2018 upheld the decision of Discharge given by Mumbai CBI Special Court.^[31]

All 22 subordinate officers including 7 from Rajasthan were acquitted by the CBI Special Court in December 2018 for lack of evidence as none of the important witnesses supported the CBI Chargesheet.

2nd Phase of Police Career of Dinesh MN after Release from Jail[edit]

Dinesh MN reached Jaipur airport to a warm welcome by  Policemen and public on 7.5.2014. He was reinstated back as SP within 2 days. He started attending to bails of his other colleagues who got bail over a period of two months ^[32]

MD RAJSICO June 2014- June 2015[edit]

Dinesh MN was posted in June 2014 as MD of Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation in Jaipur, an agency for facilitating small and medium enterprises. This was the first post he was holding since his arrest in April 2007. He took active interest in the job and started to reopen all the business ventures of the Corporation which were shut and started monetisation of the properties.

Jodhpur and Jaipur IICDs were restarted, coal procuring, renting the Rajsico properties and other such initiatives turned the corporation into a profit making enterprise. Snapdeal was roped in for online sales of Rajasthali handicrafts. Corporation went on from 5 lakhs loss to 25 lakhs profits per month and Turnover increased from 80 Cr to 120 Cr.^[33]

IG ACB June 2015- June 2016[edit]

Dinesh was given ad hoc promotion as IG on 25.1.2015 subject to outcome of the trial in Sohrabuddin-Tulsiram case. He was posted as IG ACB Jaipur in June 2015. This was his first Police job since April 2007. He took the job with lot of enthusiasm and hunger for work because for past 8 years he was out of Police job^[34]

Arrest of Ashok Singhvi IAS 83, Secretary Mines[edit]

An anonymous call one afternoon in July 2015 tipped Dinesh off to a widespread bribery racket prevailing in Rajasthan Mines Department. It was learnt that a mine owner Sanjay Sethi had become the one point contact for anyone to get work done in Mines department and nothing moved without his consent. He exploited his close relations with Mines Secretary Ashok Singhvi a powerful IAS officer of 1983 batch and a very influential bureaucrat. He closed Leases at will and mine owners could not get any relief because the whole department was run by proxy by him. Dinesh mounted surveillance on Sanjay Sethi and the information of Corruption in Mines Department started pouring in.^[35] In one of the conversations Secretary tells Sethi that profitable mines should be monetised. Sethi started getting the balance sheet of Bigger Mining Companies and started targeting the ones having higher turnover and profit. The usual modus operandi was to close mines by issuing notices citing violations of the rules and extort money to start mines again. Closing a mine led to loss of employment for large number of workers and more than 20 mines were closed at the time ACB started surveillance. During September 2015, mining department at the behest of Secretary and Sethi closed very profitable mines of one Sherkhan at Sava in Chittaurgarh district. The CA Shyam Sunder Singhvi of Sherkhan struck a deal with Sanjay Sethi to reopen mines for a bribe of 2.5 Cr. Secretary gave his nod to collect this money and buy land at Bhed gaon in Nagaur which had rich limestone reserves. After these lands were brought by Sethi and his associates, Ashok Singhvi, the Mines Secretary would open them for mining.^[36]

On September 16, 2015, a team of Additional SPs Shankar Dutt and Yogesh Dadhich arrested Sanjay Sethi and CA Shyam Sundar Singhvi while exchanging bribe amount of 2.5 Crores at the house of CA in Udaipur and the money was recovered. Additional Director Mining Pankaj Gehlot, Senior Mining Engineer Pushkar Ameta, Sherkhan and others were also arrested. Media reported that Dinesh MN went to Rajasthan Assembly and briefed CM, Home Minister, Mining Minister and Chief Secretary of Rajasthan regarding the case and role of Mines Secretary. Ashok Singhvi IAS was also arrested from Secretariat building from his Office and the searches of premises of those arrested yielded lot of evidence. Totally eight persons were arrested and more than four Crore cash was recovered.^[36]

In the follow up of the case Government canceled nearly 650 mines and four Limestone blocks allotted for Cement Industry during the Secretary's tenure. Rajasthan Loka yukta and CAG of government of India also started their own enquiries in to mining scam. Mining Department also adopted the system of E-Auctioning the Mining Leases instead of allotments which gives premium apart from royalty and reports say that this has led to almost doubling of the Revenue from Mines since 2015 and is likely to increase more once the mines given in recent times start operational.

This was the biggest case of ACB Rajasthan not only in terms of bribe amount recovered but also by the profile of officers arrested. A special team was formed for the investigation of the Mining Bribery case and Chargesheet was submitted after thorough investigations and Prosecution Sanctions were obtained from State and Central Governments. Disproportionate Assets cases were also registered against Ashok Singhvi, Pankaj Gehlot and Pushkar Ameta. Later Enforcement Directorate also arrested all the Mining Case accused and made its own case.^[37]

Rajasthan ACB under Bhupendra Dak ADG, Dinesh MN IG and VK Singh IG made some good cases in Revenue, Sales tax, Excise and other departments. ACB also arrested Neeraj K Pawan IAS 2003 in a case of corruption during May 2006 in National Health Mission Program. Two Indian Engineering Service Officers at Kota were arrested in a trap laid by Additional SP Narottam Verma and cash of nearly 50 lakhs was recovered. Bharat Bhusan Goyal RAS Posted as SDM Shahpura in Jaipur district was arrested while accepting 3.5L Bribe in March 2016 Regular trap cases across departments and state instilled a sense of fear among the corrupt.^[38]

Transfer from ACB to SOG in June 2016[edit]

Amidst the high-profile cases that ACB was making in 2015-2016 suddenly Dinesh MN was transferred out of ACB along with ADG Bhupender Dak by end of June 2016. Dinesh was posted as IG Special Operation Group. Even though Dinesh had spent one year as IG in ACB, most media reported that the transfer out of ACB was under pressure because ACB was on a hyper active mode and arrest of Neeraj Pawan IAS just 8 months of arrest of Ashok Singhvi IAS raised apprehensions among higher bureaucratic circles and power corridors.

It was reasoned that Case of fugitive gangster Anandpal Singh had become very important and his escape and eluding arrest had embarrassed State Government. Arresting Anandpal and neutralising his gang had become a challenge and high priority task for the Government.

IG, Special Operations Group July 2016-August 2018[edit]

Gangster Anand Pal Singh Operation[edit]

Dinesh MN Joined As IG SOG Rajasthan in July 2016 . This was a very challenging posting for Dinesh MN in the backdrop of pursuit of Fugitive Anandpal who had a legendary reputation for evading police while on run. He was on run for almost 10 years of his 40 years life . He belonged to Rawana Rajput caste, a subsidiary Rajput caste from Sanvrad village in Ladnun Tehsil of Nagaur district in Rajasthan. Starting as a liquor smuggler because of the Prohibition in Haryana in late 90s, he rose to becoming a dreaded gangster of Rajasthan along with his accomplice Balvir Banuda of Sikar. Even though there were murder, assault and loot cases against him earlier, he rose to prominence due to murders of Gopal Fogawat in Sikar and Jeevan ram Godara in Didwana of Nagaur in the year 2006. These murders created law and order situations in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan and Jaipur. Month long agitations by their supporters who were mostly from Jat community led to disturbances that bordered on caste clashes exposing the historical fault lines in caste hierarchy of Rajasthan. While on run he committed more murders, the most brutal was of Nanuram where his body was dismembered and disposed of by putting the parts in acid and spilling the acid contents on road and thus destroying the body and evidence. The bones were crushed into powder and made to disappear. Between 2006- 2012 his gang grew in influence and money started flowing from extortions, settling disputes and illegal possession of disputed properties.

As Anand Pal belonged to a subsidiary caste of Rajputs, he was being perceived as a Robinhood from some sections of society and his rise was aided by their perception of him as a force countering Jat dominance. His rivalry with Raju Theth gang which had predominantly Jat members led to many murders and sensational crimes even inside jail premises. Raju Theth and Anandpal along with most of their gang members were arrested by Rajasthan Special Operations Group by 2012–2013. Anandpal was arrested at a farmhouse in 2012 based on an intelligence led operation by Additional SP Sanjiv Bhatnagar near Jaipur with a huge cache of arms which included an AK 47 weapon and ammunition.

But the rivalry continued even in Jail and Raju Theth narrowly escaped when he was fired upon by a member of Anandpal gang in Sikar jail during January 2014. A bullet fired at him hit one of his teeth getting deflected and slowed down finally lodging near his collar bone. Raju Theth retaliated by attacking Anandpal in Bikaner jail in July 2014 where Balvir Banuda, the closest associate of Anandpal and two of Raju Theth's attackers were killed in the encounter between the gangs. Anandpal was also injured and he was shifted to High Security Jail at Ajmer after recovery.^[39]

Escape of Anandpal from police custody[edit]

On September 3, 2015, Anandpal escaped from Police Custody while returning from a court hearing (in which he was acquitted in Nanuram Murder Case) by drugging the police escort party and by connivance of one police commando named Shakthi Singh. Shakti Singh was also fired upon and injured in leg by Anandpal gang members to divert the attention of police from the lager conspiracy and hide the complicity of commando.they attacked police van and ensured an easy escape. Anandpal and two others who took away 2 AK 47 weapons and pistols of Police along with ammunition.

During March 2016 Anandpal fired upon police by AK 47 and killed a police Constable in Nagaur when he was stopped by police at a Nakabandi checkpoint. His gang also fired upon a Sub Inspector with AK 47 weapon and injured him near Ladnun in Nagaur during July 2016.

This was the background in which Dinesh joined SOG in July 2016. Trial in Sohrabuddin case was about to begin and Dinesh used to shuttle between Mumbai and Jaipur during that time. SOG itself had a murky past where many of its officers including two IPS officers were arrested by CBI in Darasingh encounter case in 2011 and some of them were still languishing in Jaipur Central Jail in 2016 which was just across the street from SOG Office. Past history of pursuing Anand Pal indicated that any attempt to arrest him would end in exchange of fire with SOG and death of Anandpal or any of his members was a possibility. Chatarsingh encounter in Jaisalmer just a few months ago had shown that Rajput bodies had expressed their anger against the Government by resorting to agitations and the case was transferred to CBI. Any such encounter with Anand Pal and another CBI enquiry was not good for Dinesh when the trial in Sohrabuddin case was still pending.

Police operations against Anand Pal under supervision of Dinesh MN[edit]

However Dinesh started assembling a good team at SOG and started consulting ATS, Nagaur, Churu, Bikaner, Sikar, Jaipur and other district SPs wherever movement of Anandpal was noticed. Dinesh has said at many places that his seven years imprisonment and time spent with various gangs in Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad and Taloja jail in Mumbai helped in formulating a plan to neutralise the activities of this gang. The goal was not just arrest of Anandpal but making the gang inactive and pay for their offences by arresting them, getting convictions in the cases against them, seizing the proceeds of their crimes and strongly opposing the bails of arrested in courts. SOG under Dinesh and the district police units became a single team and their concerted efforts started yielding results. Slowly gang members of Anandpal started getting arrested by SOG and district units. ATS arrested two key members carrying one lakh rewards in August 2016.^[40]

Nagaur police under able leadership of SP Paris Deshmukh and Additional SP Gyanchand Yadav seized 7-8 properties worth crores of rupees belonging in to Anand Pal and his gang . The cases of the gang were followed which resulted in convictions. Almost all Core members of the gang got Convictions in two murder cases in Nagaur which dismantled the gang. Even Churu police under SP Rahul Barhat followed with one conviction in a murder case and seizure of a property. Police ensured that properties worth more than 100 crores belonging to Anand Pal in pseudo names were seized by State Government and also by Income Tax Department under Benami Transactions Act. By beginning of 2017 more than 100 members of the gang were arrested and all their attempts to get bail were thwarted by Police by opposing at every stage and appealing in High Court and Supreme Court in case any accused got bail.

Additional SP Sanjiv Bhatnagar of SOG camped in Haryana for three months and developed crucial inputs. Sources were made and gang was infiltrated by SOG officers under supervision of IG Dinesh MN. A Crucial input was given in June 2017 by Durga Dutt, a suspended police constable of Bikaner police who was reinstated and inducted into SOG by Dinesh. On 24.6.2017 at nearly 6.30 pm, a team of SOG under Vidya Prakash DySP and Suryavir Singh Police Inspector caught two brothers of Anand Pal carrying 1 Lakh Reward against them in Sirsa of Haryana along with help from a trainee IPS officer Narendra Bijaraniya of Haryana Police. The brothers gave out the location of Anandpal at Malasar village of Churu district. On 24.6.2017 night a joint team of SOG under Additional SP Karan Sharma, Vidya Prakash(DySP from Nagaur working with SOG), Suryavir Singh, Churu Police under SP Rahul Barhat and Haryana police encircled and entered the house where Anand pal was hiding. He fired upon police from the AK 47 weapons looted from police during his escape. Police team also returned the fire which led to death of Anandpal and both AK47 weapons looted from police were recovered along with ammunition. Sohan Singh, a brave ERT Commando was severely injured in the encounter. Suryavir Singh and a Churu police man also suffered injuries.^[41]

Protests against SOG and Police in Anand Pal Encounter[edit]

Large hordes of supporters of Anandpal under Rajput Sabha started protests alleging a fake encounter and demanding a CBI enquiry and registration of murder case against the team and Dinesh MN and SP SOG Sanjay Shrotriya. The body of Anand Pal was not cremated for nearly 20 days. On 12 July 2017 more than a lakh agitators and supporters collected at Sanvrad village and Ajit Singh, a decorated IPS Officer of DG rank was sent to control agitations. The crowd went berserk and resorted to violence and arson which led to police firing from which an agitator was killed and many police men got injured. Internet was shut down in Nagaur and neighbouring districts and curfew was imposed in Nagaur. Next day body of Anand Pal was forcibly cremated in Police Presence. Law and Order Disturbances and anger of Rajput bodies forced the Rajasthan Government to hand over the Anandpal Encounter case to CBI. Rajasthan government handed over the encounter case of Ananad Pal and cases related to violence to CBI to placate the Rajput voters keeping in view the impending Assembly elections by end of 2018. CBI, after completing the investigation submitted a report in the court saying that the encounter was genuine and Rajasthan police had exhibited exemplary bravery. Nearly 10 policemen got out of turn promotions and nearly a hundred of them were rewarded for their role in Anand Pal Operation by DGP Rajasthan in the year 2021.

Coincidentally, the month of June 2017 was very crucial for Dinesh regarding Sohrabuddin case. He has confided at some places that while he was planning for arresting Anand Pal by SOG Team making all preparations for any eventuality including an encounter, he was at the same time preparing his defence to brief his advocates in Mumbai to get relief in Discharge Application in Sohrabuddin case to be heard on 29 June 2017.^[42]

Other important actions of SOG under Dinesh MN[edit]

During the two-year tenure of Dinesh MN, SOG conducted other important operations apart from Anandpal case.^[43]

Busting Blackmailing gang - A very organised gang of few advocates and media persons headed by Advocate Navin Dewani and Akshant Sharma was busted. They would lodge false rape cases and complaints against rich and prominent persons after the girls sent by the gang befriended them and spent some time with them. Girls were smart and highly educated and one NRI also was part of the gang. SOG made about 11 cases and arrested nearly 45 accused including nearly ten advocates. Even though the gang had extorted nearly 25 crores from 36 victims, very few came forward. This operation in 2016-2017 led to nearly 50 percent reduction in rape cases in Jaipur.

Cases were made against ponzi schemes of Pincon spirit company of West Bengal and their Chairman Manoranjan Roy was arrested along with others. A fraudster Abhishek Joshi wanted even by FBI was arrested in Alwar Cooperative Bank case.

A racket indulging in question papers leak in Rajasthan University was identified and offenders were arrested by Additional SP Pushpendar Singh of SOG. A well organised racket indulging in malpractices at large scale in Rajasthan Constabulary recruitment exams was busted in 2018 which led to cancellation of exams.

Many gangs of arms smugglers and counterfeit currency were identified and arrested by SOG during this time^[44][45][46]

IG Bikaner August 2018- December 2018[edit]

Dinesh MN was posted as IG Bikaner range by August 2018 in the election year. Bikaner range consists of four districts of Bikaner and Ganganagar bordering Pakistan, Hanumangarh and Churu bordering Haryana. Most of the time in this posting was spent in Preparation for Assembly Elections. Dinesh visited all districts and took meetings of Police men in Police lines and Police stations. He visited the International border with Pakistan and held meetings with BSF Officers. A Punjab terrorist wanted in murder of a policeman and Homeguard in Uttar Pradesh was arrested in Bikaner based on inputs by Punjab Police and under supervision of Dinesh MN and SP Sawai Singh Godara.

        Strict enforcement of Election Commission guidelines led to peaceful conduction of elections in the entire range. Murder of Balvir Saharan in Hanumangarh district posed a challenge in solving the crime and handling the brewing law and order situation which was tackled deftly. During this period, the Sohrabuddin trial had entered a crucial stage and Dinesh had to camp in Mumbai for sometime during November–December 2018.

After the elections Dinesh was transferred as IG Intelligence by end of December 2018 by the new Government^[5]

IG-ADG ACB 9.1.2019 onwards[edit]

With the change of State Government in December 2018 Assembly Elections, Dinesh was first transferred as IG Intelligence on 21.12.2018. However he was posted as IG ACB Jaipur within a fortnight.

IG ACB 9.1.2019-31.12.2019[edit]

Dinesh stayed as IG ACB for a year along with Alok Tripathi, DG and his mentor and training SP, Saurabh Srivastav, ADG before being promoted as ADG by end of 2019.

Action against corruption in Narcotics- arrest of Sahiram Meena IRS[edit]

The year started with arrest of Sahiram Meena, IRS posted as Additional Commissioner of Narcotics Bureau at Kota while accepting a bribe of one lakh on 26.1.2019 for making an Opium grower as ‘Mukhiya’, head of opium cultivators who would deal with department. The search of his Jaipur residence under supervision of Dinesh MN yielded 2.35 Cr cash and property documents worth Crores of Rupees. A disproportionate assets case was registered and Enforcement Directorate also started its own investigations.^[47][48][49]

Action was taken against Narcotics Bureau officers at Chittorgarh in April and many of its officers were arrested along with middleman and huge cash and opium were recovered.^[50] SHO of Begun Police Station in Chittaurgarh was arrested for offering bribe to local MLA to retain him in Police Station and bribe money of 12 lakhs was recovered. He offered to give huge sum to MLA for non destruction of Opium Straw called ‘Doda Chura’ in local language.^[51]

ACB Actions against Mining Officials[edit]

Joint Secretary of Mines BD Kumawat was arrested for demanding 55 lakhs and accepting 4 lakhs bribe at his residence in Jaipur.^[52] Mining Engineers Diwan Singh Dewda in Jaipur, Gopal Bach in Rajsamand and Pannalal Meena were arrested in traps by various teams of ACB and huge amounts of money recovered. Disproportionate assets case was also registered against Dewda.^[52]

CBI Inspector arrested by ACB[edit]

Inspector Prakash Chand from Delhi Police who on deputation to CBI and posted at Jaipur was arrested along with Middleman in March after demanding 75 lakhs bribe and accepting 30 lakhs cash and cheque for 45 lakhs. CBI immediately sent him back to Delhi Police and extended all support to Rajasthan ACB in Searches of his premises and investigation of the case.^[53]

Corruption in Ajmer Central jail was busted in July.^[54] ACP Jhotwara was also arrested in a bribery case.^[55] A police Constable of Intelligence at Bharatpur was arrested after demanding 1 Crore and accepting 5 lakhs from a college owner. Incidentally this was the highest demand of bribe in the year 2019.^[56]

Deputy Commissioner Sales tax Anasuya was trapped accepting 1.15 lakhs and nearly 50 lakhs Rupees was recovered during searches.^[57] An Executive Engineer and Assistant Engineer of PWD were arrested while accepting Rs 80,000 in Rajasthan Assembly Premises. Permission of Honourable Speaker was sought by Dinesh to execute this trap.^[58] SDM Dholpur was trapped while returning the bribe amount.^[59] Two officers of Pollution Control board were trapped in a record time of 2 hrs while accepting bribes in their offices.^[60]

Total number of traps crossed 300 in the year 2019.

During June–July Dinesh did his MCTP 4 training at National Police Academy at Hyderabad and a week long training at London. His impromptu speech for 10 minutes at Academy to the IPS Officers attending training regarding how he faced the 7 years of Jail got viral and was well received.

ADG ACB 16.2.2020-[edit]

On promotion as ADG on January 1, 2020, Dinesh was posted in ACB itself as ADG in February 2020.

ACB Action in Transport Department[edit]

Under his supervision a major racket of corruption in Transport department was busted which led to arrest of DTOs and Inspectors of Transport department along with their touts and recovery of more than a Crore in cash. Transport officials of Shahjahanpur Check post were also arrested More than 20 ACB teams were formed to execute this action successfully under CP Sharma ASP and Vijay Singh Meena ASP.^[61]

Onset of Corona closed most of the offices in March, April and May during Lockdown. Even some officers of ACB were put on Corona duty.

But, by June complaints of Corruption started pouring in. ACB surveillance led to arrest of Additional Chief Engineer and a Project Director at RSRDC an important wing of PWD Rajasthan in a bribe case.^[62] DIG of Bharatpur range was transferred when a person was trapped while accepting 5 lakhs bribe from a Police Inspector after demanding bribe from the Landline number of Official residence of DIG. Investigation started regarding the role of DIG also.^[63][64] In July, FA of Smart City Project Udaipur was trapped while accepting 3 lakhs.^[65][66] In August, Additional SP of Ganganagar was arrested while accepting 2 lakhs bribe.^[67]

Arrest of VC of MDS University Ajmer[edit]

Vice Chancellor of MDS University, Ajmer RP Singh was arrested along with his middleman and the bribe giver. Ranjit, a native of Uttar Pradesh acted as driver, PA and middleman of VC . He stayed at the official residence of VC and collected money for him. An old man of 76, running a college in Bhilwara had complained regarding demand of bribe by VC to increase the seats. He must be the senior most Complainant to have complained regarding bribe and got the trap executed. Demand verification and Surveillance by ACB under supervision of Dinesh led to this high-profile catch. RP Singh was later suspended and removed as VC.^[68][69]

By September 30, 2020, Alok Tripathi retired as DG and BL Soni, a hard working IPS Official of 1988 joined as DG ACB. His vast experience in CBI and Jaipur Police gave a fillip to the ACB which was already active and robust under ADG Dinesh MN and outgoing DG Tripathi. October saw a spurt in ACB actions.

Arrest of ADG, UIDAI Delhi[edit]

Pankaj Goyal, an Indian Telecom Service officer of 94 batch posted as Assistant Director General at Unique Identification Authority of India ( Adhar) at Delhi having jurisdiction over four states was arrested by Chandra Sheel Thakur Additional SP ACB Kota on 20 October. Bribe was demanded by calling a complainant in Rajasthan and 1 lakh was accepted in Delhi for allowing the complainant to do the Adhar work. Trap was executed by Kota team at UIDAI Headquarters in Delhi.^[70][71]

On November 5, an Dan Singh Meena an Indian Engineering Service official working with Ministry of Roadways and Transport was arrested along with his Assistant in a bribery case. During search of House of his junior, ACB recovered nearly 50 lakhs cash.^[72] Prema Ram Parmar, a retired RAS Officer, last posted as Additional Commissioner, Colonisation at Bikaner was arrested accepting 5 lakhs bribe.^[73][74]

Internal Vigilance - Arrest of DySP ACB Sawai Madhopur on 9.12.20[edit]

Bherulal Meena posted as DySP ACB at Sawai Madhopur was collecting monthly bribes from various departments. ACB under supervision of Dinesh MN and DG mounted surveillance on his activities. On 9.12.2020 he was arrested while accepting Rs 80,000 bribe from DTO, who was also arrested. Searches in his premises resulted in a Disproportionate Assets Case against him. The case was investigated by SP Yogesh Dadhich and his team in a very professional manner. Ironically he was caught just minutes after a speech on World Anti Corruption Day on 9.13.2020 regarding need for remaining honest in Government Service.^[75][76]

Trap of Inder Singh Rao IAS, Collector Baran on 9.12.2020[edit]

PA of Inder Singh Rao IAS, who was posted as Collector Baran demanded bribe for giving NOC for Petrol Pump from the owner. During the verification, it was revealed that this demand was at the behest of Collector. PA was arrested while accepting 1.4 lakhs bribe on 9.12.2020 by Chandrasheel Thakur ASP ACB Kota City. Collector was removed from the post immediately after the trap by State Government.^[77] After investigations, Indra Singh Rao was arrested by Investigating Officer CP Sharma on 23.12.2020. He was suspended subsequently by State Government.^[78][79]

ACB Actions in 2021[edit]

A DySP of Alwar Shapath Khan was arrested on allegations of accepting 3 lakhs bribe in January 21.

Arrest of SP & 2 SDMs in Dausa[edit]

On 13.1.2021 under supervision of DG and Dinesh MN, Narottam Verma ASP ACB executed two traps in Dausa. Pushkar Mittal, SDM Dausa was arrested for accepting 5 lakhs bribe. Pinky Meena, SDM Bandikui in Dausa was arrested for demanding 10 lakhs from the same Contractor who was completing a portion of the highly ambitious Bharat Mala Project linking Delhi and Mumbai cities. Pinky Meena incidentally married a Judicial Officer while in Judicial Custody.^[80][81]

Manish Agarwal ^[82] IPS 2010 batch posted as SP Dausa was harassing the Road Contractor for Monthly bribes for non registration of any criminal cases against the company. He was arrested along with a middleman when the same contractor complained that he had demanded bribe for smooth completion of the project. Manish was already facing a Vigillance case against in his Original Cadre Jammu & Kashmir also.^[83][80][84]

SDM Gudamalani in Barmer was trapped in February by Jodhpur ACB Team.^[85]

MD JCTSL Arrested in Jaipur[edit]

On March 5 Veerendra Verma RAS, MD of Jaipur City Transport Services Ltd. was arrested by Bajrang Singh Adnl SP SIU ACB while accepting 4 lakhs bribe.^[86]

DySP seeking undue favour arrested by ACB and dismissed.[edit]

Kailash Bohra, a DySP of Jaipur Police Commissionerate was trapped and arrested by ACB for seeking sexual favours from a complainant.^[87][88]

She had lodged a rape case and the official sought undue favours to arrest the main accused. The issue was raised in the Rajasthan Assembly. He was immediately dismissed from service by Government. High court denied his bail saying that the statement of the Prosecutrix be over in Trial before the accused approaches HC for bail.

Furqan Ali, a District Forest Officer posted in Sawai Madhopur was arrested by Sanjeev Nain ASP ACB while accepting 3 lakhs bribe.

Tehsildar caught burning currency notes in Sirohi[edit]

During March, Kalpesh Jain, Tehsildar Pindwada in Sirohi created sensation in the country when he was caught on camera burning the currency notes to the tune of 15-20 lakhs when ACB Pali team was knocking his door to arrest him in a trap case. He was arrested and separate case was registered in local Police Station against him and his wife for burning currency notes. His video became viral and was widely viewed throughout country.^[89]

ACB Action in Revenue Board, Ajmer[edit]

Revenue Board members Sunil Sharma RAS and BL Meharda RAS were arrested along with their middleman after a six-month surveillance by ACB on complaints that decisions were being made by members after taking bribes. Searches at their houses yielded nearly 90 lakhs cash.^[90]

During peak Corona times of lockdown in Second wave ACB made some cases against some unscrupulous elements demanding money for beds and medicines in RUHS,^[91] a nodal hospital for Covid patients. Cases were made in Local bodies in Chittaurgarh, Jaipur, Bhilwara, Alwar and Nagaur. Cases were also made in GST, Police, Revenue and other departments during lockdown.

On June 14 Sunil Jhingonia, SDM Lasadiya in Udaipur was arrested for demanding bribe.^[92]

Regional Manager of HPCL Kota was arrested while accepting 1 lakhs bribe.^[93]

Arrest of Rajasthan Labour Commissioner[edit]

Prateek Jhajharia, an Indian Postal Service Official of 2011 batch posted as Labour Commissioner (a post which was always held by senior IAS Officers) on deputation to Rajasthan State Government was arrested while accepting 3 lakhs bribe at his official residence. He was suspended and repatriated back to Central Government.^[94][95]

A junior accountant of Rajasthan Public Service Commission was arrested for demanding 23 lakhs from a candidate in Rajasthan Administrative Service exams.

Arrest of IRS Officer in Kota[edit]

Shashank Yadav, an Indian Revenue Service Official of 2011 batch posted as GM at Opium Factory at Gajipur, Uttar Pradesh was arrested while carrying unaccounted cash of 16 lakhs hidden in a sweet box. ACB was tipped off by an anonymous call regarding the IRS Officer carrying lakhs of bribe collected at Neemuch Opium factory in Madhya Pradesh in a vehicle transformed into a Police Vehicle to avoid any suspicion. He was holding the charge of Neemuch factory also.^[96][97]

Searches at premises of Hansaram Kasana, Regional Manager of Pollution control board at Bharatpur yielded more than 40 lakhs. He was later arrested in a trap case also. A Manager and a Scheme Coordinator of RSLDC,^[98] (Rajasthan Skill and Livelihood Development Corporation) were arrested while accepting 5 lakhs bribe in September and the role of their two IAS Superiors also came under ACB scanner. Bhawar Lal DySP Jhunjhunu was also arrested while accepting 1.5 lakhs bribe.^{[citation needed]}

On November 1 Mansinga Rao, SDM Ahore was trapped by Jalore ACB Team under Mahavir Singh Ranawat ASP. He accepted a bribe of 40,000 Rs in his very first posting itself and got arrested.^[99] Chaiman of Alwar Nagar Parishad was arrested along with her son in a bribery case.^[100]

The year 2021 saw record actions by ACB Rajasthan under DG BL Soni and ADG Dinesh MN. More than 500 cases were registered which included 430 traps, highest ever in history of Rajasthan ACB. ACB made 32 cases against Central Government Employees also. Even Public Servants posted in other states were arrested for demanding and accepting bribe in Rajasthan.

Certain initiatives by Rajasthan Government helped in strengthening in ACB. A Circular^[101] was issued by Government making concerning Department Heads responsible to get the pending work of the trap complainant done. 24 hr 1064^[102] Helpline was inaugurated by CM and a WhatsApp number was issued by ACB for receiving Texts, Video and Audio files regarding Corruption. A Revolving Fund was constituted for ACB to reimburse the Trap Money given by the complainant within a short period of time.

ACB Actions in the year 2022[edit]

The year 2022 started with arrest of Financial Advisor of Jaipur Municipal Corporation^[103] along with touts. ACB conducted a trap of a Tehsildar in Bhilwara while accepting a bribe of 3 lakhs.

Trap of Deputy Commissioner in Jaipur Development Authority[edit]

ASP Bajrang Singh of Special Investigations Unit of ACB arrested Mamta Yadav RAS posted as DC zone in JDA along with four other employees of JDA in a trap of 1.1 Lakhs for issuing a Patta to complainant. Media reported that unapologetic JDA DC told smiling that nothing can be done if someone comes to offer prasad in a temple than to accept it referring to the bribe she had taken. In the aftermath of this action JDA overhauled its entire system by transferring nearly 90 of its employees.^[104]

Arrest of Additional Commissioner GST Bhilwara[edit]

Additional Commissioner, GST of Commercial Tax department posted at Bhilwara and Dinesh Tailor CTO were arrested at Udaipur while accepting bribe amount of 4 lakhs. This trap was done based on the inputs given by Rajesh Dhureja DySP of Technical Unit of ACB Headquarters. Even the bribe giver was arrested.

Arrest of a Drug Inspector led to total overhauling of the Drug Department.

Arrest of an IRTS Officer at Kota City[edit]

posted as Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Railways at Kota was arrested for accepting Rs 20,000 bribe money from a subordinate Railway Employee. Trap was executed by ASP Mahesh Meena of Bharatpur ACB and his team at the Railway Office in Kota. Official was suspended after the trap.

ACB Action in Transport Department[edit]

District Transport Officer of Rajsamand district, Nain Singh was arrested along with two middlemen by ACB Rajsamand on 7 April.^[105]

ACB Alwar arrested Transport Inspector and many touts on 11,April at Shahjahanpur RTO Checkpoint and recovered nearly 12 lakhs bribe money.

Arrest of CEO Biofuel Authority of Rajasthan[edit]

Seeing the strong prospect of production of BioFuel on culturable wasteland of Rajasthan through Jatropha and other such tree borne oilseeds, BioFuel Authority of Rajasthan was established to reduce dependence on the imported oils, reduce dependence on diesel and create job opportunities. Starting as an airman in Indian Airforce, Surender Singh somehow sneaked his way into Rajasthan Government aided by manipulating some loopholes in the system and rose to becoming CEO of BioFuel Authority. He almost became an IAS officer as his name was considered three times for promotion into elite He was caught accepting 5 lakhs bribe from a factory owner on April 7 and searches at his premises revealed Crores of Properties and 3.6 Cr cash was recovered when he famously said that he was a man of Thousand crores as per media reports. A case of disproportionate assets and another case of corruption was registered against him.^[106]

On April 12 an Executive Engineer working in NHIDCL was caught with a bribe money of 13 lakhs.

Dinesh MN visits Alwar after 15 years[edit]

On April 19, 2022, Dinesh visited Alwar after 15 years. Exactly 15 years ago on 20 April 2007 he had left Alwar as SP saying he would be back in 2 days and travelled to Ahmedabad where he was arrested in Sohrabuddin Case. Alwar had erupted in anger against this arrest and resorted to nearly month long agitations. Dinesh profusely thanked the people of Alwar for standing with him and extending support in the most challenging and difficult times. He also exhorted people to come forward and complain if bribe is demanded from any public servant. He explained the workings of Rajasthan Anti Corruption Bureau and how public can work with the department to make dent on corruption.

On 20th a Nagar Palika employee was caught with 8 lakhs, on 22nd an Engineer at Alwar Urban Improvement Trust was trapped while accepting one lakh and on 23rd Ex Collector Alwar & a RAS official were arrested in Alwar.

Arrest of Nannumal Pahadia IAS, Ex Collector of Alwar[edit]

On his visit to Alwar on 19 April, a complainant met and informed Dinesh that Nannumal Pahadia who had just handed over the charge as Collector to the new incumbent after transfer was demanding bribe. The money was part of the residual monthly payments of 4 months to be made to Collector for hassle free implementation of the contract to lay road for Bharat Mala Project in Alwar.^[107]

ASP ACB Alwar Vijay Singh conducted the trap under direction of Dinesh. Nannumal Pahadia IAS, Ex Collector of Alwar and Ashok Sankhla RAS working as Revenue Appellate Authority were arrested while accepting 5 lakhs bribe. Both officers were suspended. Their houses were searched and documents related to properties were seized. Nannumal Pahadia was to retire in July 2022. As per media reports he was interested in entering politics after retirement.

This was the second case of arrest of a Collector by ACB Rajasthan, earlier one being arrest of Indra Singh Rao IAS, Collector Baran during December 2020.^[108]

Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan Technical University arrested[edit]

Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan Technical University Ram Avatar Gupta based at Kota City was caught while accepting a bribe of 5 lakhs from a private Engineering College. He was arrested from the guest house of MNIT Campus in Jaipur where he was a faculty member earlier. 20 lakhs were recovered in search of his room in guest house. The CCTV Footage of the guest house revealed people visiting him in last 3–4 days. Some of the Engineering college owners gave statements accusing him of extorting money from them. He was the 2nd Vice chancellor of university to be arrested in 17 months by Rajasthan ACB^[109]

Action against Corruption in SMS Hospital, Jaipur[edit]

Financial Advisor of SMS Hospital Jaipur Brijbhushan was arrested while accepting 7.8 lakhs. Dr Joshi heading Rajasthan Medicare Relief Society and its Accountant, Cashier were also arrested for taking 7.8 lakhs bribe. Searches of the house of Cashier yielded Rs 50 lakhs . Three percent commission was charged for payments of nearly Rs 5 crores to a private hospital which was giving Cancer Testing Facilities to public at SMS Hospital in a Public Private Partnership arrangement with Rajasthan Medical Department. The payments which were to be made every fortnight were pending since 15 months and graft was sought for this payment of 5 Crores.^[110]

Ranks held[edit]

Indian Police Service^[111]

SNO	Insignia	POST HELD BY OFFICER	Date
			Order Joining	To
1 .		ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR GENERAL, ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU-II, JAIPUR	09/02/2020 16/02/2020
2 .		INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU, JAIPUR	06/01/2019 --/--/----	15/02/2020
3 .		INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, INTELLIGENCE-I, JAIPUR	20/12/2018 24/12/2018	08/01/2019
4 .		INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, BIKANER RANGE, BIKANER	26/07/2018 06/08/2018
5 .		INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, S.O.G., JAIPUR	30/06/2016 04/07/2016
6 .		INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU, RAJASTHAN, JAIPUR	18/06/2015 23/06/2015	01/07/2016
7 .		MANAGING DIRECTOR, RAJSICO, JAIPUR	07/06/2014 25/06/2014	22/06/2015
8 .		APO	--/--/---- 09/05/2014	25/05/2014
9 .		UNDER SUSPENSION	--/--/---- 22/02/2008	09/05/2014
10 .		UNDER A.P.O.	--/--/---- 29/10/2007	21/02/2008
11 .		UNDER SUSPENSION	15/05/2007 24/04/2007	28/10/2007
12 .		SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, ALWAR	05/04/2007 09/04/2007	23/04/2007
13 .		SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, UDAIPUR	02/08/2004 05/08/2004	09/04/2007
14 .		SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (DEPUTY DIRECTOR), RAJASTHAN POLICE ACADAMY, RAJASTHAN, JAIPUR	05/07/2004 09/07/2004	04/08/2004
15 .		SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, JHUNJHUNU	16/05/2003 24/05/2003	07/07/2004
16 .		SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU, BIKANER	11/09/2002 12/09/2002	24/05/2003
17 .		SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, SAWAI MADHOPUR	03/04/2002 04/04/2002	08/09/2002
18 .		SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, KARAULI	05/05/2000 08/05/2000	03/04/2002
19 .		A.S.P., GANDHI NAGAR, JAIPUR	--/--/---- 17/03/1999	07/05/2000
20 .		A.S.P., DAUSA	--/--/---- 23/09/1998	15/03/1999

See also[edit]

• Additional director general of police
• Rajasthan Police
• Indian Police Service

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Dinesh MN on Twitter
• Dinesh MN on Instagram
• Dinesh MN on Facebook