Vasudev Burkule and Pradip Patharikar demanded Rs 35,000 from a jailor to help him pass an exam for promotion; Rs 40 lakh in cash was recovered from Burkule’s residence
In a major operation, the superintendent and deputy superintendent of Arthur Road Jail have been arrested after being caught accepting bribe of Rs 35,000.
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The two accused, Vasudev Digambar Burkule, superintendent of the jail and Pradip Annasaheb Patharikar, the deputy superintendent, were arrested from their residential quarters in Mumbai Central Prison quarters at Arthur Road jail. File pic
The police have also seized R40 lakh cash, fixed deposits of Rs 12.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh at SBI and Bank of Maharashtra respectively, R25 lakh in saving accounts and 750 grams of gold from the superintendent.
The two accused, Vasudev Digambar Burkule, the superintendent of the jail, and Pradip Annasaheb Patharikar, the deputy superintendent, were arrested from their residential quarters in Mumbai Central Prison quarters at Arthur Road jail.
According to the police, the case was challenging as the two stayed in the jail premises and they would be aware if officials from Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) entered. Luckily, the door to the deputy’s house was open and they managed to get in unnoticed.
The complaint was filed by a Group-II level jailor, who had given the department exam for Jail Manuals on March 25 for promotion.
'Pay or fail'
Patharikar had approached the complainant saying that he had failed the exam, the script for which was being checked by Burkule, and he would have to pay them Rs 40,000 to pass.
“He was not willing to pay the bribe and approached us. We arranged the trap and the complainant carried Rs 35,000 with him,” said Praveen Dixit, the director general of police, ACB.
As the complainant handed the money to Patharikar, he was arrested by ACB officials and later, they also arrested Burkule. While they did not find anything at Patharikar’s place, they found cash and gold, along with information of savings and fixed deposit accounts from the superintendent’s house.
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