Navi Mumbai: In a major crackdown on corruption within public sector offices, the Thane unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday arrested Narendra Murlidhar Hire (57), the newly appointed President of the CIDCO Employees’ Union, after he was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from a retired employee.
Hire, who also served as a Selection Grade Stenographer (Class 2) in CIDCO and previously led the BC Employees’ Union, had recently assumed leadership of the CIDCO Employees’ Union.
According to the ACB, the bribe was demanded in exchange for facilitating the release of the complainant’s post-retirement dues, including gratuity and interest, which were withheld due to a pending departmental inquiry.
The complainant, a retired CIDCO employee, had approached Hire for help in getting his dues cleared and resolving the departmental charges. Instead, Hire allegedly demanded Rs 4.5 lakh of which Rs 3 lakh was for the Manager of the Personnel Department, Pramda Bidwe; Rs 1 lakh for the departmental inquiry officer, Chandalal Meshram, to secure an exoneration; and Rs 50,000 for himself.
Disturbed by the demand, the complainant approached the Thane ACB office and lodged a formal complaint. "After verifying the claims, the we laid a trap on the afternoon of June 20 at the CIDCO office in CBD Belapur. Hire was caught red-handed inside the CIDCO Employees’ Union office while accepting Rs 1.5 lakh from the complainant," an official from ACB said.
Following the successful trap, the ACB registered a case late Friday night at the CBD Police Station under Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Amended 2018). Hire was formally placed under arrest and will face further legal proceedings.
