Thane: ACB sleuths arrest govt official for accepting Rs 5,000 bribe

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The Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths, on Friday, said that they have arrested an official of Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), a state government, undertaking, for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a Thane man, stated a PTI report.

According to the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Thane ACB), Sanju John, the anti-corruption bureau on Thursday registered an offence against senior clerk Sripat Khade (52) of the MJP under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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Reportedly, the accused official had demanded Rs 5000 from the complainant for registering him as a contractor with the MJP. The state government undertaking provides technical sanctions and implements water supply and sewerage projects.

The PTI report quoted the official saying that they laid a trap for the accused official on Thursday and they caught him red-handed while accepting the bribe amount.

The ACB on Thursday booked another official from the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) in Palghar district. The official was accused of demanding a bribe from a surgeon who was authorized to conduct health check-ups for employees in various factories and issue medical certificates.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dayanand Gawde, said that the accused requested the surgeon to pay Rs 50 for each person he examined between November 2022 and June 2023 which totaled Rs 31,500 for nearly 630 individuals the doctor had examined.

The official, according to the media reports, had also implied that the surgeon would have to continually pay bribes so he could carry on his work. However, he reported the incident to Palghar ACB, which conducted a probe into the matter. A case has been registered against the DISH official under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Meanwhile, two constables were also arrested by the ACB sleuths on Wednesday for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5000 from an autorickshaw driver. Deputy superintendent of police (Navi Mumbai ACB) Shivraj Mehetre told PTI that the two traffic constables attached to Mahape traffic division - Pravin Rathod (33) and Namdeo Gadhekar (35) have been booked after they demanded autorickshaw driver for traffic violations and impounded his vehicle. They allegedly demanded Rs 5000 for releasing it before eventually settling for Rs 2000. They were caught by the ACB red-handed.