Years before he was accused in an alleged Rs 1 crore bribery case, Rahul Bansal had appeared before a mock interview panel and discussed corruption from the perspective of someone who had experienced it firsthand.
The former civil services aspirant recalled feeling distressed after 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, but for an uncomfortable reason.
Bansal, a 2022-batch IPS officer from the Chhattisgarh cadre, has been named alongside two police personnel in a complaint alleging that Rs 1 crore was demanded and received to settle a cyber fraud case.
The stark difference between Bansal’s comments while preparing to join the civil services and the allegations he now faces has given the old mock interview a new and 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
‘YOU CAN’T BLAME THE WHOLE SYSTEM’
In the video, Bansal discusses corruption, inefficiency and the need for reforms in policing.
“There are some corrupt and inefficient people. But you can’t blame the whole system,” he says.
He then describes his own alleged experience with bribery.
According to Bansal, his brother was studying at IIT Kanpur and was scheduled to travel to the US for a paper presentation. He urgently required a birth certificate to complete his visa application.
Bansal claimed that a panchayat official demanded Rs 500 for issuing the certificate on an urgent basis. He told the interview panel that the incident had left him deeply uncomfortable.
He also spoke about the need for reforms in policing and public administration.
Years later, the same remarks are being viewed in an entirely different context.
NOW, A RS 1 CRORE ALLEGATION
A complaint filed before a special CBI court in Delhi names Bansal, Assistant Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar Rathore and constable Anshul Sharma in connection with an alleged Rs 1 crore bribe.
The complaint claims that the money was demanded and received in exchange for settling 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 alleged digital evidence connected to the transaction, including WhatsApp chats and call recordings.
Before entering the Indian Police Service, Bansal had worked as an Income Tax inspector.
His first field assignment as an IPS officer was as City Superintendent of Police in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district, where the allegations concerning the cyber fraud case emerged during his tenure.
TWO RS 50 LAKH PAYMENTS ALLEGED
The complaint claims that the alleged Rs 1 crore bribe was paid in two instalments instead of through a single transaction.
It alleges that two payments of Rs 50 lakh each were routed through hawala channels in May 2026.
The complainant has submitted alleged communications and other material to the court to support the claims.
The Action Taken Report requested by the court is expected to clarify what steps, if any, have been taken by the state police or the CBI and whether an investigation has been initiated.
VIDEO RETURNS TO HAUNT BANSAL
In this context, the resurfaced mock interview has taken on a significance it did not have when it was originally recorded.
In the video, Bansal portrays himself as someone disturbed by even a Rs 500 bribe and argues for reforms in policing. He is now facing allegations involving Rs 1 crore—20,000 times the amount he had spoken about in the interview.
The contrast does not by itself establish the allegations against him, which will be subject to investigation and due process. However, the resurfaced video has highlighted the striking irony surrounding the case.
