ACB arrests two traffic cops for demanding bribe from autorickshaw driver in Navi Mumbai

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The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested two traffic constables of Navi Mumbai police for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 5,000 from an autorickshaw driver, an official said on Tuesday.

Deputy superintendent of police (Navi Mumbai ACB) Shivraj Mehetre told PTI that an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against traffic constables Pravin Rathod (33) and Namdeo Gadhekar (35), who are attached to the Mahape traffic division.

The accused constables had caught an autorickshaw driver for traffic violations, seized his vehicle, and allegedly demanded Rs 5,000 for releasing it, he said.

Following negotiations, the duo settled for Rs 2,000 and were caught by the ACB while accepting the bribe amount on Monday.

On September 6, the Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested two persons, including an official of a firm associated with MMRDA, in connection with a bribe of Rs 7,000 collected from a local internet service provider in Maharashtra's Palghar district.

The duo was identified as Ashok Kumar Suryabanshrai (34), a field supervisor of a technical consultancy firm contracted by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), and Sahid Salim Varsi (25), a private person.

Dayanand Gawde, ACB's deputy superintendent of police, Palghar, said in a statement that Suryabanshrai demanded Rs 7,000 from a local internet service provider to allow him to lay fibre optic cables over an electric pole installed within the limits of MMRDA in Dahanu, reported PTI.

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The field supervisor claimed that the money would be given to MMRDA to obtain permission to lay the cables, the complainant told ACB.

The anti-graft body laid a trap and arrested Sahid accepting the bribe on behalf of Suryabanshrai on Tuesday. The field supervisor was also arrested, he said, reported PTI.

A case has been registered against the two under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the official added.

Meanwhile, an RTO inspector and a private individual have been arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 300 from a driver for allowing his vehicle to cross a checkpost in Maharashtra's Palghar district, an official told PTI on Tuesday.

The anti-corruption bureau's Thane unit on Monday arrested Niloba Jyotibha Tandale (48), vehicle inspector RTO Thane, and Sunil Bhoir (62) under the Prevention of Corruption Act, deputy superintendent of police ACB Thane Pramod Jadhav told PTI.

The accused inspector allegedly demanded Rs 300 from the complainant driver for allowing his vehicle to cross the Talasari RTO checkpost on Express Highway no 48, he said.

The duo accepted the bribe money and allowed the vehicle to pass through, following which the ACB officials nabbed them, the official told PTI.