Mumbai: The Anti-Corruption Bureau trapped a licence inspector with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), catching him red-handed in the act of accepting a Rs 12,000 bribe from a hawker to return his handcart on Tuesday. Sanjeev Valchandra Rahate, 50, attached to the anti-encroachment squad at the R-South ward (Kandivli West) office was booked under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
According to police sources, in a recent drive undertaken by the local BMC office last week, the anti-encroachment squad had seized the complainant’s handcart, on which he sold fruits and vegetables in Kandivli (W). To get back his licence and wheelcart, the fruit and vegetable vendor, had approached the BMC office. It was then that Rahate demanded a bribe of Rs 12,000 from him.
Since the complainant was not willing to be party to this corrupt act, he approached the ACB and reported the incident on Monday. After an initial inquiry, the ACB lodged a First Information Report (FIR) and instructed the complainant to pay the bribe, said police.
Accordingly, a trap was laid on Tuesday afternoon, wherein Rahate met the complainant at his Kandivli office and handed him Rs 12,000 in cash. The ACB officers, in plainclothes, immediately swung into action and arrested Rahate.
