Lawyer poses as deputy director for bribe of Rs 1.7 crore; arrested

Rohit Shende

In one of the biggest bribery traps executed by the Pune unit of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), a lawyer who acted as agent for the office of the deputy director from land records was caught red-handed on the night of 26 December, while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1.7 crore for getting the judgment of a disputed land in favour of the complainant.

The arrested suspect was identified as Advocate Rohit Shende. The ACB had received a complaint around 40 days ago and based on this information the ACB laid traps on two occasions but failed to nab Shende. However, finally, on 26 December the team managed to track him down.

Superintendent of Police ACB (Pune range) Sandip Diwan said, "The complainants have land worth Rs 100 crores in Parvati area which was pending at the deputy director's office. The complainant holds the power of attorney for the land and wanted a clear title of the lands in his name. Shende had allegedly assured to remove other names from the official documents and get a favourable order from the deputy director. Initially, the accused demanded Rs 2 crore but settled for Rs 1.7 crore after negotiations. He event went on to create a copy of the official document two days prior to the judgement. A clerk is said to have handed over the copy to him."

He added, "On Wednesday, when the suspect, Shende, asked to bring the bribe money in Bund garden area, the complainant alerted the ACB who then laid a trap and nabbed Shende red-handed while accepting the bribe. The original currency notes for Rs 5 lakh and Rs 1.65 crore in dummy notes were utilized in order to nab the suspect. Shende will be produced before a special court today.

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