Mumbai: The Mumbai unit of the Anti Corruption Bureau trapped a Class 2 MHADA branch engineer attached to Mumbai Building Repair And Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), an undertaking of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), at Colaba on Wednesday. The accused was allegedly caught red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh.
According to sources, the complainant, who is a contractor, had undertaken repairs of at least 36 structures in the A ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the year 2019-2020. The complainant had completed all the designated work, which was billed at over Rs 22.60 lakh. Of the total billed amount, the MBRRB had approved Rs 5 lakh and the complainant was asked to approach the accused, Rajkumar Hanmant Varude, 53, a branch engineer, to approve the remaining amount.
Police said, much to their surprise, Varude allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh to approve the bill. Since the complainant was unwilling to cough up the bribe he approached the Worli unit of the ACB and complained about the matter on February 16.
After the primary probe between February 16 and March 30, the allegations were deemed to be true and a trap was laid to catch the accused red-handed.
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Accordingly, on Wednesday, the complainant met Varude and the latter was allegedly caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh to approve the remaining bill at Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai. The ACB will now probe the matter and initiate an enquiry to ascertain the allegations.
