Officials of District Development Committee (DDC), Parsa, have been found to have taken commission while awarding contracts.

It was revealed after a complaint was registered at the Police following a tussle between the consumer committee’s chairperson and secretary.

After the locals of Parshurampur VDC bagged a road-gravelling project worth Rs679,000, they formed a consumer committee under the chairmanship of Umesh Saha. The first instalment was deposited in the committee’s bank account and an agreement was signed between the committee and DDC.

Saha had allotted Rs86,000 from the amount for paying commission to DDC officials.

After the DDC did not release the second instalment of the contract, a delegation led by Baij Nath Chaurasiya, secretary of the committee, visited the DDC, where they were told the second instalment was blocked as Saha offered only Rs50,000 in commission.

“A meeting of local stakeholders was then held in the VDC, which questioned Saha about the remaining Rs36,000,” said a participant of the meeting.

The discussion turned violent and Chaurasiya lodged a complaint against Saha for assault at Surjha Police Post.

DDC Chief Dipak Kumar Das, however, denied that the DDC officials took any such commission. “We release cash based on work progress,” said Das.

However, various consumer committees and contractors say trend of getting contract by paying commission is rampant in the district.