The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a case against a forest guard, a forest guard and another person in the forest department, alleging that they demanded a bribe of Rs 2.50 lakh for not taking legal action against a vehicle carrying wood from the field.
An investigation conducted by the Nashik and Jalgaon unit revealed that a bribe of Rs 1 lakh was demanded, and a case has been registered against the three at the Parola police station.
According to the information received, on October 14, while the complainant's brother was transporting cut neem wood from the field in a truck, Parola Forest Guard Vaishali Gaikwad, a forest department employee and Sunil Dhobi, owner of Shree Krishna Saw Mill, stopped the truck in front of the Savitri fireworks factory.
Gaikwad seized the vehicle on the charge of 'illegal timber transportation' and took it to Shri Krishna Saw Mill. Initially, a bribe of Rs 2.50 lakh was demanded to release the vehicle. On the complainant's request, Vaishali Gaikwad and the forest department employees settled and asked to pay Rs 1 lakh to a person named Sunil Dhobi.
The complainant directly filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Department. Accordingly, the bribe demand was investigated in the presence of five witnesses. During the investigation, it was revealed that Vaishali Gaikwad, the forest department employee and Sunil Dhobi had demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh to not take legal action on the seized vehicle.
After that, a case was registered against the three. This action was taken by Deputy Superintendent of Police Yogesh Thakur, Police Inspector Neha Tushar Suryavanshi and their team under the guidance of Nashik Zonal Superintendent of Police Bharat Tangade, Additional Superintendent of Police Madhav Reddy and Additional Superintendent of Police Sunil Dorje.
