Patna: Cracking down on corruption, the vigilance bureau has registered cases against 34 govt officials since Jan this year—averaging one public servant booked every four to five days for either accepting bribes or abusing their position.Of the 34 cases, 27 were trap cases in which officials concerned were caught red-handed taking bribes, and they have been sent to the jail on the order of the vigilance court. The money recovered from these trap cases was Rs12.46 lakh. Four others pertained to disproportionate assets (DA) and another three related to misuse of official posts.“Under the zero tolerance policy of the govt, the campaign against corrupt officials is a sustained process. If a complaint about the demand of bribe made by any official or any personnel is received, it is immediately verified, following which action is taken,” state vigilance bureau director general (DG) Jitendra Singh Gangwar said.“A vigil is being also maintained on those public servants who have amassed huge wealth through corrupt practices. In such matters, the DA case is lodged after proper inquiry,” he added.The record of lodging 34 vigilance cases against govt officials in the last five months this year, is relatively exceptional, as 37 cases were lodged in 2020, followed by 58 in 2021, 72 in 2022, 36 in 2023 and 15 in 2024, the bureau’s note said. The record of 2022 was the highest.The cases details also indicated that the average of the trap cases has also increased this year. In 2020, 22 trap cases were lodged, while 27 such cases have been recorded between Jan and May this year. Incidentally, those caught in the trap cases this year have been sub-inspectors and also officials in various other ranks in the police department, while revenue department personnel and officials and executive engineers, too, have been caught.The reason attributed to the rise in lodging of cases is that the vigilance bureau has facilitated direct lodging of the complaints by the aggrieved persons, for which a helpline number has been put in public domain. Secondly, at the main gate of the office of the vigilance bureau, a box has been affixed into which anyone can submit a complaint against any official.The complaints submitted are reviewed, following which the complainant is called for verification, and response action is quick after a thorough probe, the communique said.