Corruption is "instutionalised" at higher levels in the Haryana administration and this makes it difficult to nab corrupt officials, Haryana State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) Director General S C Sinha said today.

"The problem is that corruption at higher levels is instutionalised. There are no complaints and complainants do not come forward. So we are unable to take any action," Sinha said when asked why only lower rung officials’ fall in the Vigilance trap.

Last year, maximum (43) traps were laid in Police Department out of a total of 184 in various departments to catch the corrupt officials.

SVB conducted 184 raids last year and registered 222 criminal cases against defaulting officers and others. SVB caught 39 gazetted officers, 162 non-gazetted officers and eight others red handed while accepting illegal gratification.

He said that a number of officers, officials and others had also been convicted in 29 cases by various courts and 796 cases were pending during the same period, with the maximum from Gurgaon at 237.

Asked if the SVB was corruption-free, he said, "I am not saying that we are corruption-free. But wherever any case has come to our notice, we have and will come down with a heavy hand."