Thane: District supply office clerk held for taking Rs 2,500 bribe from rice mill representative

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The Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested a 50-year-old clerk with the Thane district supply office in Maharashtra for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2,500 from a rice mill representative, ACB officials told news agency PTI on Wednesday.

The complainant was involved in the work of polishing rice received from different sources and then supplying it to designated distributors, the ACB said in a release, reported PTI.

Prior to delivery of the processed rice, its inspection was conducted by officials of the district supply office. The accused, identified as Santosh Pradhan, was also among those who carried out inspection of the processed rice, it said.

The accused allegedly demanded Rs 5,000 from the rice mill representative for the certification that the processed rice was fit to be delivered to godowns, the release said, reported PTI.

The rice mill representative lodged a complaint with the ACB's Thane unit which laid a trap on Tuesday at the district supply office located in the collectorate premises and caught the accused accepting Rs 2,500 as part of the bribe, the anti-graft agency said.

A offence has been registered against the accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act at Thane Nagar police station, the ACB added.

Meanwhile, The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a senior technician of state-run power distributor MSEDCL and a middleman for demanding and accepting a bribe from a power consumer in Maharashtra's Palghar district, an official told PTI.

Technician Gopal Paliwal disconnected the power supply of the complainant's home on July 31 but the latter reconnected it on his own, said Dayanand Gawade, deputy superintendent of police (ACB-Palghar) in a statement, reported PTI.

After learning about the reconnection of the supply line, Paliwal demanded Rs 10,000 from the complainant for not taking action against him for theft of power from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL). He brought down the amount to Rs 8,000 after negotiation.

After being alerted by the complainant, ACB laid a trap on Wednesday and caught a middleman named Hemant Churi accepting Rs 7,000 of the bribe on behalf of Paliwal, who too was arrested later, said the anti-graft agency.

(With inputs from PTI)