Thane: A forest guard has been arrested at Karjat in Maharashtra's Raigad district for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a man in exchange of granting permission to cut trees, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said on Friday.
The action against the accused, identified as Anang Vitthal Nagargoje (33), was taken by the Thane unit of the ACB on Thursday. He has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, it said.
The wife of the complainant owned a plot of land at Bishegaon in Karjat. She wanted to develop the land, where there were several trees. The complainant had submitted an application to the Karjat division of the forest department, seeking its permission to let them cut the trees, the anti-graft agency said in a release.
However, the forest guard told the complainant that in order to obtain the permission, the latter will have to pay Rs 4,000 to him, it added.
The complainant then approached the ACB, which laid a trap at the forest office in Karjat on Thursday evening and nabbed the accused while taking the bribe amount, the ACB added. Probe into the case is on.
