The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested three people, allegedly working with Telangana Member of Parliament (MP) Kavita Maloth, in connection with a Rs 1 lakh bribery case. Kavitha Maloth is a Lok Sabha MP from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), representing Mahabubabad parliamentary constituency. 

A CBI spokesperson in New Delhi said that Rajib Bhattacharya, Shubhangi Gupta and Durgesh Kumar Maurya were arrested from Saraswati Apartments for allegedly working with an MP in a bribery case.

According to reports, the three accused have allegedly taken bribes from a Delhi-based builder to get him a clearance from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The CBI official said that the agency registered a case on a complaint against the two accused claiming to be staff of Maloth, and other unknown public servants, adding that the complainant alleged that the accused demanded Rs 1 lakh for allowing unhindered construction at his house by ‘managing’ MCD officials.

"CBI laid a trap and the accused were caught while demanding and accepting the undue advantage of Rs 1 lakh from the complainant. During investigation, one more accused was caught," a statement said.

The CBI laid a trap to catch the accused reportedly after receiving a complaint from a resident of New Gupta Colony in New Delhi. The complainant claimed that the accused Bhattacharya who identified himself as a Personal Assistant (PA) of the MP has threatened to demolish his illegal construction with the help of contacts he had in MCD and demanded for Rs 5 lakhs. 

The official said that searches were conducted at the premises of the accused in Delhi which led to recovery of certain documents. However, the TRS MP said that she had not demanded any bribe and claimed that the accused were not known to her. A report in TOI claimed that one of the accused is the driver of the MP.