Thane talathi booked for demanding Rs 50,000 bribe in land transfer case

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday said that a case has been registered against a Thane talathi for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 50,000 from a man to process the transfer of land records in Maharashtra`s Thane district, reported news agency PTI.

Siddhi Santosh Patkar, a Thane talathi under the Thane Tehsildar`s jurisdiction, allegedly demanded a bribe to process the transfer of land records in the name of a housing society, Deputy Superintendent of Police, ACB Thane Unit, Madhavi Rajekumbhar told PTI.

She said the complainant, who regularly carried out work related to housing societies, had submitted an application at the tehsil office for the transfer of a land parcel to a society`s name.

“Despite the submission of necessary documents, the work was kept pending, and the accused official demanded a bribe to clear the application,” the official told PTI.

A case was registered against the accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act on Monday, she said, adding that although the bribe was demanded, the accused had not accepted any money.

No arrest has been made so far in connection with the case.

ACB nabs Class-3 officer in PWD department accepting Rs 2.20 lakh bribe in Thane district

In another case, Maharashtra`s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday caught a section engineer attached to the PWD department of Panchayat Samiti in Bhiwandi town of Thane district while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2.20 lakh, officials said, reported PTI.

The engineer, Pramod Jumale, a Class-3 officer, was held after a 30-year-old contractor approached the ACB, Thane unit, with a complaint that he was demanding a bribe for preparing a bill for a sewer project, said the anti-graft agency, reported PTI.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (ACB Thane), Dharmaraj Sonke, said, “The complainant had completed the construction of a closed sewer under the gram panchayat and had also finished three other works whose bills were already paid. However, for preparing the bill for the closed sewer project, the section engineer demanded a bribe,” reported PTI.

According to the ACB, Jumale initially demanded Rs 2.40 lakh from the complainant. After negotiations during the verification process conducted on April 21, the amount was brought down to Rs 2.20 lakh.

“Based on the complaint we received, a verification exercise was carried out. It was confirmed that Jumale had indeed demanded a bribe. Following this, a trap was set, and during the operation conducted on April 28, he was caught accepting Rs 2.20 lakh from the complainant,” Sonke added, reported PTI.

“An FIR was registered against the accused public servant under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act with the local police and further probe was underway,” said the deputy SP.

(With inputs from PTI)