Thane: Man booked for manhandling Bhiwandi civic official in his office

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An assistant municipal commissioner of Bhiwandi Nizampur municipal corporation in Maharashtra's Thane district was manhandled in his office by a man, following which an FIR was registered against him, police told news agency PTI on Wednesday.

The man, identified as Mohammad Ibas Momin, accused the civic official of not taking action against illegal construction in Bhiwandi city and pushed him off the chair, an official told PTI.

No arrest has been made so far.

A Bhiwandi Town police station officer told PTI that the concerned civic official tried to explain to Momin that action would be taken the next day with the help of police but he shouted at him and shoved him off the chair.

Police have registered a case under sections 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 323,(Voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (punishment for insulting someone intentionally to provoke them) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested an engineer, a technician and a clerk of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) and another man in a case of bribery in Thane district, the ACB said on Tuesday.

On August 14, the 34-year-old assistant engineer of the MSEDCL's Kalyan division took away the power meter of a person's flat in Ambernath area on suspicion of tampering, Thane ACB inspector Hanmant Kshirsagar said in a release, reported PTI.

After checking the electricity meter on August 28, the engineer told the person there was a power theft for the last three years and that he would be required to pay an amount of Rs 3 to 4 lakh, including the power consumption charges and penalty, reported PTI.

The engineer also told the person that he could reduce the bill amount to Rs 1 lakh for which he allegedly sought a bribe of Rs 75,000 and later brought down the demand to Rs 70,000, the official said.

The person did not want to pay the bribe and lodged a complaint with the ACB's Thane unit, he said.

The ACB sleuths laid a trap on Monday and nabbed a 35-year-old man while he allegedly accepted the bribe amount of Rs 70,000 on behalf of the engineer from the complainant near a temple on Kalyan-Badlapur road in Ambernath, the official said.

The engineer as well as a junior clerk and a principal technician of the MSEDCL allegedly involved in the crime were also subsequently arrested, he said.

A case was registered against the four accused at Ambernath police station under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, he added.

(With inputs from PTI)