Mumbai Crime: ACB arrest sub-registrar, cooperatives officer for demanding bribe

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The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) of Mumbai Police recently arrested a cooperatives department official for allegedly accepting a Rs 1 lakh bribe from a Khar resident. Police officials said that the Khar resident had approached the official and sought action against the committee members of his cooperative housing society for alleged irregularities committed by them.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the ACB also apprehended a sub-registrar on bribery charges, however, he was not arrested as he tested positive for COVID-19 and had to be admitted to hospital for treatment.

The complainant, a 61-year-old resident of Khar had approached the office of the deputy registrar of cooperative societies at Bandra (West), seeking action against committee members and the secretary of his society, an ACB official said.

In his complaint, the sexagenarian alleged that the committee members did not maintain records of the society's general body meetings or the audit reports. He also complained of various other irregularities.

ACB officials said that the accused cooperative official identified as Ganesh Sukhram Rathod (34) demanded Rs 3 lakh to get an administrator appointed for the society and ensure action against the guilty society members.

Interestingly, the complainant verified the bribe demand from sub-registrar Gautam Shankar Vardhan (39), who also asked him to fulfill the (bribe) demand in order for them to take action.

Following this, the complainant approached the ACB's Mumbai office on February 10 and the officers laid a trap on Thursday and caught Rathod red-handed while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh.

"Sub-registrar Vardhan too was arrested, but he was sent for treatment, as he tested positive for Covid-19. Action will be taken against him once he is free from the infection," an ACB officer said.