Maharashtra: ACB Initiates Probe Against Ahmednagar Civic Chief And Assistant Over Bribery Allegations

The Jalna Unit of the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has initiated a probe against Dr Pankaj Jawle, Municipal Commissioner and Administrator, Ahmednagar and Shridhar Deshpande, clerk and personal assistant to Jawle following bribery allegations, officials informed on Thursday.

According to the statement issued by the ACB, the complainant in this case along with his partners carry on a construction business. The complainant had purchased a plot of 2260.22 square meters at Mauje Nalegaon in Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation limits.

As the complainant along with his partners wanted to carry out construction on the said plot, he applied to the Municipal Corporation Office Ahmednagar to get the required construction permission and had made an online application on 18.03.2024 for the same.

"For the said permission, Jawle, through Deshpande, demanded a bribe of Rs 9,30,000 from the complainant. Since the complainant did not want to pay the bribe, he lodged a complaint with the ACB Jalna office on 19.06.2024. On the complaint of the complainant, the demand for bribe made by the accused public servants was verified on 19.06.2024 and 20.06.2024," the ACB's statement claimed.

"The verification revealed that Deshpande had asked a bribe of Rs 8 lakh from the complainant for obtaining construction permission from Pankaj Jawle in order to get required construction permission. The verification also revealed that the Municipal Commissioner was encouraging Deshpande to demand a bribe from the complainant. The process of filing a case is going on at police station Tofkhana at Ahmednagar," the statement further read.