Two EPFO officials held over bribery in Thane

Representation image. File pic

Two staffers from the Employee Provident Fund Office (EPFO) in Maharashtra's Thane city have been arrested for alleged demand and acceptance of a bribe, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said on Saturday.

As per the report, the arrest of Ravikumar Tukaram Telwade, social security officer and Dhirendra Satendra Mishra, assistant director, came on a complaint by a man, who used to run a car washing business. The complainant said he had not kept the EPFO informed about the closure of his business. He had also not deposited his employees' PF contributions with the authority, the ACB said.

The EPFO sent the complainant a notice for the recovery of Rs 7,69,104 towards the deductions from his employees and a penalty on the amount. When the complainant met Telwade on Friday, the official demanded Rs 2 lakh to let him off. After negotiations the officer agreed at Rs 1 lakh and demanded immediate payment of Rs 50,000.

However, the ACB laid a trap as the complainant alerted them. When Talwade accepted the cash and went to share it with Mishra, the ACB caught them, PTI reported quoting an inspector from Thane ACB.

The Kopri police have registered a case against the two under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Meanwhile in another case in Mumbai city, a 58-year-old college professor was duped of Rs 1 lakh by a man posing as a police inspector who claimed her son had been detained in a case. The incident took place on Tuesday when the professor was in college based in Juhu area.

A case was registered under Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act provisions against unidentified persons, police informed.

As per PTI report, during lunch break, the professor received a call from an unidentified number. The caller identified himself as police inspector Vijay Kumar and said her son had been detained in a case. The woman tried reaching her son on his phone but could not. She then transferred Rs 1 lakh into the accounts provided by the caller.

However, later the fraudster called her and warned not to narrate the incident to the anyone and after learning that the detention information was false, she approached Juhu police station.

(With PTI inputs)