Lucknow, Jun 12 (IANS): The Anti-Corruption Organisation (ACO) in Uttar Pradesh has caught 55 policemen red-handed while taking bribes since 2017.

Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Vijaya Kumar said the crackdown by the ACO not only weeds out corrupt officers from the system but also sends a message across the rank and file that such practices will not be accepted.

"We will not allow corruption at any level in the system," he said.

The DGP attributed the strengthened ACO to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's policy of zero-tolerance towards corruption.

Last year also, as many as 87 government officials were nabbed by the ACO.

According to the ACO records, since March 2017, as many as 432 traps were laid in which many officials have been caught red-handed.

This includes 55 police personnel and 377 from other government departments like education, district administration, Nagar Nigam and others.

Recently, a junior engineer in the electricity department, Subhash Chandra Sharma, was held with Rs 1 lakh bribe while in another case, a clerk in the panchayat department of Mathura, Mohan Agarwal, was nabbed with Rs 50,000 bribe.

Three government officials were caught red-handed while taking bribes in different parts of the state, including sub-inspector Ram Milan Yadav, education department auditor Vinay Kumar, and Lekhpal Pooran Singh.

The DGP said that the Uttar Pradesh Police will soon get a dedicated police station of Anti-Corruption Organisation (ACO) in each police range.

Similarly, in a bid to encourage people to report corruption against government officials, the vigilance establishment has also launched a dedicated 'anti bribery helpline'.