A CBI court in Lucknow has convicted and sentenced former Bank of Baroda branch manager Subodh Kumar Rastogi to four years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 in a bribery case dating back to 2015, an official statement said on Tuesday.

According to the statement, Rastogi, who was serving as the Branch Manager of Bank of Baroda’s Balrampur branch in Uttar Pradesh at the time of the offence, was found guilty of demanding and accepting illegal gratification from a borrower. The court delivered its judgment on November 2 after completing the trial.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case against Rastogi on October 26, 2015, based on a complaint filed by a businessman who had secured a loan of Rs 5 lakh from the bank for the expansion of his solar lights business.

The complainant alleged that while disbursing Rs 1.25 lakh as a term loan, the branch manager collected around Rs 25,000 under the pretext of chartered accountant fees, stamp paper charges and file processing expenses, the CBI said in the statement.

It was further alleged that after a cash credit limit of Rs 3.75 lakh was sanctioned, Rastogi demanded an additional bribe of Rs 25,000 and threatened to close the borrower’s account if the payment was not made.

Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed while allegedly accepting Rs 10,000 as illegal gratification from the complainant.

Following the investigation, the agency filed a charge sheet against Rastogi on December 18, 2015.

After examining the evidence and hearing the case from both sides, the court found him guilty and awarded the sentence, bringing the decade-old corruption case to a close.

The Rajasthan Police intensified their search for Naresh Meena, chief of the Bhagat Singh Sena and a farmers’ leader, in connection with the alleged attack on the Forest Department’s range office in Nahargarh town of Baran district, conducting a raid at his ancestral residence in Nayagaon on Tuesday.

However, Meena was not present at the house, and the police team returned empty-handed. Meena has announced through a social media post that he will surrender at the Nahargarh police station on November 6 at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, police have arrested four other accused in the case and are conducting raids to trace the remaining suspects.

The case relates to an incident in which a group of people allegedly barged into the Forest Department’s range office, vandalised government property, assaulted forest personnel and took away a generator seized by the department.

Acting on the directions of Baran SP Abhishek Andasu, a special police team was constituted to apprehend Meena. The team included Atru Circle Officer Ramanand Yadav, Mothpur SHO Kamal Singh, Baran Sadar SHO Nawalkishore Meena and personnel from the District Special Team (DST). The team reached Meena’s ancestral residence in Nayagaon early Tuesday morning. However, he was not found there.

Police officials said efforts were underway to identify and apprehend others involved in vandalising government property, obstructing government officials from performing their duties, and allegedly threatening forest personnel.

Following the police raid, Meena posted a message on social media claiming that the police had reached his residence at 5 a.m. to arrest him. He announced that he would surrender at the Nahargarh police station on November 6 at 5 p.m. In the same post, he appealed to voters in Rajasthan to move beyond the Congress and BJP and support what he described as a Third Front. He urged people to vote for the BSP (elephant symbol) or the RLP (bottle symbol), support strong Independent candidates and vote for Left candidates in Sikar.

His announcement comes amid heightened political activity in the state ahead of the ongoing Panchayati Raj elections. The incident occurred on November 1 when Pradeep Singh Rathore, in charge of the Nahargarh forest check-post, along with a forest guard and other personnel, seized a generator allegedly being used for an illegal tubewell on forest land in Jhiri Tapra.

The generator was subsequently brought to the Forest Department’s range office. According to the allegations, Naresh Meena arrived at the office with hundreds of supporters, who allegedly threatened to set the premises on fire, assaulted forest personnel and tore badges and nameplates from their uniforms. They also allegedly damaged official documents, including the seizure panchnama, before taking away the confiscated generator in a mini transport vehicle. The incident reportedly caused significant damage to government property and led to a police investigation.

Nahargarh SHO Vivek Harsana said police had arrested four persons on Monday in connection with the incident. They were subsequently produced before a court and sent to jail. The arrested accused have been identified as Jitendra Nagar (36), a resident of Nahargarh; Devendra Kushwaha (22), a resident of Balapura; Pappu Bhil (25), a resident of Lakdai; and Murari Gurjar (20), a resident of Murari. Police said efforts were continuing to apprehend the remaining accused, including the main suspect, Naresh Meena.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched its ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ march in Lucknow on Tuesday, accusing the Congress-led INDIA bloc of “undermining” the democratic system, “disrupting” parliamentary proceedings, and “spreading misinformation” among the public.

The march began from Lok Bhawan and proceeded towards Parivartan Chowk. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP State President Pankaj Chaudhary, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and several other senior party leaders participated in the march, which is aimed at reaching out to the public and strengthening the party’s political campaign in the state.

Thousands, holding the Tricolour and the BJP flags, marched towards Parivartan Chowk to counter the political narrative being advanced by the INDIA bloc, highlight issues related to electoral rolls and governance, and mobilise its grassroots workers.

Speaking to the reporters, Chouhan said, “This is a Satyagraha to save democracy and remove anarchy. People have tried to destabilise the country several times in history, and today, the Congress-led INDIA bloc, including the SP, is dreaming of ‘regime change’ by spreading anarchy. However, this crowd is evidence that the public will not allow such forces to weaken democracy.”

“Names of people who have moved to another place, who passed away, and who are infiltrators have been removed through SIR. However, the INDIA bloc is trying to mislead the public regarding SIR… However, today people are out on the streets to counter their (the Opposition’s) narrative,” he added.

Speaking during the rally, Deputy CM Pathak slammed the Opposition and said, “In their hunger for power, some people are adopting various tactics to create a situation like Bangladesh in India. I appeal to the people of the state to understand the message of this march, being held in Lucknow under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan.”

“India is a strong democracy, and such attempts will not succeed here. No matter how much foreign powers support them, the INDI Alliance’s efforts to create anarchy at their behest will fail. I thank everyone who participated in the march and all the party leaders and workers who worked hard to organise it,” he added.

BJP State President Pankaj Chaudhary, speaking to the reporters, accused the INDIA bloc of “destabilising the country”.

“The INDI Alliance wants to destabilise the country and provoke people. They want to take India down the path of Nepal and Sri Lanka, but this cannot happen in India because its people are strong and its roots are deep,” he added.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Rawat said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has worked to “connect people at the last mile with the mainstream” to protect democratic institutions and contribute to nation-building.

“The citizens of the country stand united in its honour. The Opposition has no basis for raising any issue and is only trying to mislead the public continuously,” she added.

Minister Sanjay Nishad, addressing the gathering, said that the people of India made great sacrifices to establish democracy and drive out foreign forces.

“Even today, foreign forces are trying to weaken the country. I congratulate the Prime Minister on India’s growing economic strength, which has surprised the world. Some countries have witnessed changes in government amid instability, but India will not allow such forces to weaken it. I congratulate everyone participating in this march against elements spreading anarchy,” he added.

BJP MLA Neeraj Bora said that the youth and people of the country are aware of the people who are responsible for “undermining democracy”.

“Whether it was the Emergency or the scams during Congress governments, those responsible for weakening democratic institutions are now trying to mislead the people. Their actions have been exposed… The people are willing to move forward under the leadership of PM Modi. Soon, the vision of Viksit Bharat will be fulfilled,” Bora told media.

Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary stated that the Congress-led Opposition has a common agenda: to “sow anarchy in the country by weakening constitutional institutions and democracy itself”.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party is running a public awareness campaign against this agenda. From today until the 5th, senior party leaders will use this campaign to convey a message and expose the forces allegedly conspiring to create instability in the nation… Congress has become a pawn for a foreign agenda, aimed at weakening the country’s Constitution and fostering chaos,” he said.

Minister Dinesh Pratap Singh, speaking to the reporters, said, “If an institution elected by the people demands someone’s resignation or stages a protest against them, it gives the impression that it is not acting in a democratic manner. The public gives an elected representative the authority to fight for their rights, whether inside the institution or on the streets. However, when someone starts fighting against officials, it gives the impression that they are taking an improper position and are not acting sensibly, as Rahul Gandhi is doing.”

Meanwhile, Mohsin Raza, Chairman of the Minorities Commission, stated that the BJP is organising ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ marches across the country to “protect democracy”.

Accusing the Congress of fostering anarchy, Raza said, “The party previously sought to win elections with the support of terrorists, and now its leaders are creating an atmosphere of chaos in the nation.”

He urged all Indians to unite to protect democracy and put an end to anarchy by participating in this campaign.