He called a Rs 500 bribe 'very bad'. Now IPS trainee faces Rs 1 crore charge

The contrast between what Rahul Bansal said while preparing to enter the civil services and the allegations he now faces has given the old mock interview a fresh, ironic relevance.Rahul Bansal, a 2022-batch IPS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre. (Photo: Instagram/Rahul Bansal)Years before he found himself accused in a Rs 1 crore bribery case, Rahul Bansal sat before a mock interview panel and spoke about corruption from the other side of the table.The then civil services aspirant recalled how uncomfortable he had felt when a panchayat official allegedly demanded Rs 500 to urgently issue his brother’s birth certificate.“I felt very bad paying the bribe of Rs 500,” Bansal said in the old video.The clip has now resurfaced and gone viral for an uncomfortable reason. Bansal, a 2022-batch IPS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, has been named along with two police personnel in a complaint alleging that Rs 1 crore was sought and received to settle a cyber fraud case.The contrast between what Bansal said while preparing to enter the civil services and the allegations he now faces has given the old mock interview fresh, ironic relevance. This is a mock interview of Rahul Bansal, IPS trainee. Look at how he was concerned about corruption in the bureaucracy, how he himself had been a victim of it, and how he expressed anguish at it.He is now under scanner for allegedly demanding and receiving 1 crore to settle pic.twitter.com/H7LIGYK3kS— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) August 12, 2026‘YOU CAN’T BLAME THE WHOLE SYSTEM’In the video, Bansal speaks at length about corruption, inefficiency and the need for police reforms.“There are some corrupt and inefficient people. But you can’t blame the whole system,” he is heard saying.He then recounts his own experience of allegedly being asked for a bribe.According to Bansal, his brother was studying at IIT Kanpur and was due to travel to the United States for a paper presentation. He urgently needed a birth certificate to apply for his visa.Bansal alleged that a panchayat official sought Rs 500 to issue the certificate at short notice. The experience, he told the interview panel, left him deeply uncomfortable.He also stressed the need for reforms in policing and public administration.Years later, the same interview is being viewed through a very different lens.NOW, A RS 1 CRORE ALLEGATIONA complaint before a special CBI court in Delhi has named Bansal, Assistant Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar Rathore and constable Anshul Sharma in connection with an alleged Rs 1 crore bribe.The complaint alleges that the money was sought and received to settle a cyber fraud case.The special court has sought an Action Taken Report from the Chhattisgarh Director General of Police and the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.The complainant has also submitted what he claims is digital evidence linked to the alleged transaction, including WhatsApp conversations and call recordings.Before joining the Indian Police Service, Bansal worked as an Income Tax inspector.His first field posting as an IPS officer was as City Superintendent of Police in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district. The allegations linked to the cyber fraud case surfaced during this posting.TWO RS 50 LAKH PAYMENTS ALLEGEDAccording to the complaint, the alleged Rs 1 crore payment was made in two instalments rather than as a single transaction.It claims that two payments of Rs 50 lakh each were routed through hawala channels in May 2026.The complainant has placed alleged communications and other material before the court in support of the claims.The Action Taken Report sought by the court is expected to indicate what action, if any, has been taken by the state police or the CBI and whether an investigation is underway.VIDEO RETURNS TO HAUNT BANSALAgainst that backdrop, the resurfaced mock interview has acquired a significance it never had when it was first recorded.In the video, Bansal presents himself as someone troubled by even a Rs 500 bribe and argues that policing needs reform. Today, he faces allegations involving Rs 1 crore, an amount 20,000 times larger.That contrast does not establish the allegations against him, which will have to be tested through investigation and due process. But the resurfaced video has brought the irony into sharp focus.- EndsPublished By: Aprameya RaoPublished On: Aug 12, 2026 20:10 IST