Excise Inspector Arrested For Demanding ₹22 Lakh Bribe For Liquor Licence

Pune: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested an inspector of the Maharashtra State Excise Department for allegedly demanding a ₹22 lakh bribe from a liquor licence consultant in exchange for facilitating the approval of liquor-related licences.

The accused has been identified as Jitendra Harishchandra Patil (47), an Excise Department inspector residing in Kothrud, Pune.

According to the ACB, the complainant, who works as a licence consultant, had approached the department for approval of an FL-3 liquor licence and a file related to microbrewery fees for one of his firms. Patil allegedly initially demanded ₹12 lakh for forwarding the FL-3 licence file for approval and another ₹8 lakh for clearing the microbrewery fee-related file, taking the initial demand to ₹20 lakh.

The complainant subsequently approached the ACB on April 10, 2026. Following the complaint, the ACB conducted verification on April 13 and again on May 21 and 22.

During the verification, Patil was allegedly found demanding a total of ₹22 lakh from the complainant. Following negotiations, the bribe amount was allegedly settled at ₹11 lakh.

Based on the findings, the ACB registered a case against Patil at Yerawada Police Station. He was arrested on Monday evening and is scheduled to be produced before a court on Tuesday.

The action was carried out under the guidance of ACB Superintendent Shirish Sardeshpande and Additional Superintendent Ajit Patil. Deputy Superintendent Satish Walke and police personnel Bhushan Thakur, Vikas Adke, Chandrakant Kadam, Vishal Mane and Vanita Gore were part of the operation.