RAS Officer Kajal Meena Arrested in Rs 60,000 Bribery Case, Rs 4 Lakh Cash Recovered
Rajasthan, 17 April 2026: The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested Nadoti Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kajal Meena, along with her reader Dinesh Kumar Saini and senior assistant Praveen Dhakad, in a ₹60,000 bribery case tied to a land dispute decree in Karauli district.
Acting on a complaint, ACB officials laid a trap and caught the trio allegedly accepting the money at the SDM office. Investigators say the original demand was ₹1 lakh, later negotiated down, with Rs 50,000 meant for Meena and Rs 10,000 for her reader.
The money reportedly changed hands through Saini before being passed on to Dhakad, with officials claiming recorded conversations established Meena’s consent to the transaction.
What has amplified the case, however, is what surfaced alongside it. During the raid, the ACB recovered an additional Rs 4 lakh in cash, the source of which is now under investigation.
Meena, a 2024 batch Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer and an IIT Mandi graduate, was in just her second posting. She had taken charge in Nadoti in October 2025 after a transfer from Pratapgarh.
That trajectory, from engineering graduate to civil servant, is now central to the online reaction. A mock interview clip of Meena speaking about leaving a tech career to “serve the public” has resurfaced, fuelling sharp commentary across social media about how quickly that idealism appears to have unravelled.
RAS officer and ST category topper Kajal Meena Ji (center) from the 2024 batch arrested while taking a bribe of 4 lakh rupees. pic.twitter.com/lfofDfNtvg
— Oxomiya Jiyori 🇮🇳 (@SouleFacts) April 16, 2026
The speed of the arrest and the contrast between stated intent and alleged conduct have turned the case into more than just another corruption bust. It has become a talking point on the system itself: how early the rot can set in, and how little time it sometimes takes.
The ACB has registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Further investigation is underway.
