Mumbai: The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Thursday booked a Class 1 officer and his junior while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh in Bandra (west).
The bribery amount is among the highest in recent times. According to ACB, a case has been registered against Gautam Shankar Vardhan,39, a deputy registrar of co-operative societies of H-West ward which has jurisdiction in Bandra (W), Khar (W), and Santacruz (W) who is a class 1 officer. The agency has also booked Ganesh Rathod, 34, a co-operative officer who accepted the bribe amount.
“The complainant in the case was seeking actions against the secretary and office bearers of the society in which he is residing. The complainant alleged that they did not keep adequate records of auditing, annual meetings and accused them of other irregularities in society operations,” said a senior ACB officer. “Following the complaint, the two accused agreed to co-operate and also assured to appoint an administrator to look into the allegations. For this, a bribe demand of Rs 3 lakh was made which was later lowered down to Rs 1 lakh,” As per the rules, the registrar can conduct enquiry regarding formation, proceedings, and financial status of any society.
The complainant, who did not wish to pay a bribe, approached the ACB in this regard on Wednesday. The case was verified and a trap was laid on Thursday in which Rathod was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from the complainant.
To recall, the ACB had arrested Bharat Kakad,57, a class-1 officer attached with the P ward of office of the deputy registrar co-operative societies in Kandivali (east) and his son Sachin Kakad,32. The accused allegedly demanded two sarees apart from Rs 2 lakh as a bribe when they were caught in November last year.
