The Chitalsar Manpada police have booked a journalist with a local newspaper in Thane for allegedly demanding bribe from a Deputy Commissioner of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) posted in Manpada.
According to police sources, the incident took place between November 2024 and 2025 at the SRA office in Khewara Circle, Manpada. Suhas Uttam Shinde grew suspicious of the official’s appointment and began filing complaints against her, threatening job loss to coerce her.
The accused allegedly approached an executive engineer in the office and inquired about an extortion amount of Rs25 lakh in exchange for not taking action against the official. He later contacted another office staff member and settled the demand at Rs12 lakh. Palande eventually approached the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of Thane, following which an FIR was registered on April 30.
