The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Monday arrested two inspectors of the license department of the civic body and their accomplice in a bribery case.
The names of the arrested persons are Nitin Patankar, 49, Harishchandra Ghegdamal, 53, both attached to the P north ward in Malad of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The third person arrested is one Sudesh Paul, 41, who accepted the bribe on their behalf.
The complainant in the case is a Charkop resident who had put a signboard on his shop. In order to not initiate actions against the signboard, the accused demanded a bribe of Rs 2.25 lakh which was later lowered down to Rs 60,000. The complainant approached the ACB in this regard which verified the complaint and registered a case.
A trap was laid in this regard in which Patankar asked the complainant to hand over the bribe to Paul. When Paul accepted the bribe, he was caught red-handed. Subsequently, the inspectors were also arrested by the anti-graft agency.
The accused has been charged under section 7 (public servant taking gratification) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988. The ACB will investigate into the assets of the arrested government official for further investigations. The ACB has appealed people to dial their toll-free number 1064 to report bribe demands made by government servants.
