ACC chief says heightened vigilance raising bribe rates

The heightened vigilance from anti-graft watchdog, the Anti-Corruption Commission, has apparently thrown up the authorities to a paradoxical situation - more vigilance means more bribes, reports bdnews24.com.
ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood on Tuesday said that raids by the Commission personnel had given bribe-takers an excuse to demand larger amounts of bribe.
"Though the veracity could not be confirmed; but sources had told me that bribe seekers now ask for almost hundred times higher bribes," he said.
"With the ACC sleuths roaming everywhere, taking bribes has become risky nowadays," he added.
He said that if the claim is true, the situation is one of concern.
The ACC has stepped up activities to thwart corruption and is conducting raids at various offices.
Mahmood said that 400 to 500 people had been nabbed for involvement in corruption over the last one year and the process to bring them before the law is on.
Mahmood said that merely conducting raids would help fight the vice and expressed the need for building up a social movement against corruption.