Ahmednagar: Ahmednagar bribery prevention dept came down heavily and got four persons, including the Deputy Director of the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Investigation Committee of Nashik, arrested for demanding a bribe of Rs5 lakh for a caste validity certificate for the Scheduled Tribes.
According to sources, on September 4, the applicant approached the members of the Scheduled Tribes caste certificate examination committee to give a caste certificate after validating his caste.
The members, Ramchandra Ratilal Sonkawde, law officer, Shivprasad Makrand Kakade, personal driver Vinayak alias Sachin Uttamrao Mahajan and lab boy Machindra Maruti Gaikwad, allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs5 lakh to get the validation completed.
After a report with the Ahmednagar Anti-Corruption Bureau, the officials told the complainant to go ahead with giving the cash on September 5. The ACB officials laid a trap.
The complainant went to Hotel Sai Asra Hotel in Shirdi with the money and handed it over to Vinayak Mahajan and Machhindra Gaikwad who were trapped accepting the bribe by the ACB officials.
Ram Chandra Sonkwade and Shiv Prasad Kakade were also involved in the case. All the suspects accused are under investigation and they were produced in a local court.
