A 38-year-old forest range officer from Wada landed into the custody of the Palghar unit of the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 50,000 on Friday afternoon. The arrested public servant has been identified as- Himmat Vasant Saaple (38) who landed into the ACB net after he was caught red handed while accepting the bribe money from the complainant to process his application seeking a certificate that his land did not fall under the purview of forest rules.
Notably, the complaint had submitted the application way back in 2017. The original demand in return for a favorable report was pegged at Rs. 60,000 which was scaled down to Rs.50, 000 after negotiations, officials said. A team led by Deputy SP- Navnath Jagtap and Police Inspector-Swapan Bishwas under the instructions of ACB SP (Thane)-Panjabrao Ugle, caught the accused red handed while accepting the bribe amount at the complainant’s office at around 12:36 pm on Friday.
A case under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered in this context at the local police station. Further investigations were on.
