Forest department staffer booked for demanding bribe in Palghar

A case has been registered against a forest department staffer in Palghar district of Maharashtra for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a villager, the officials said, reported the PTI.

He allegedly asked the bribe amount to permit the villager to construct a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in Palghar, the police said on Tuesday.

Based on a complaint filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), a case was registered at Mandvi police station, an official said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Palghar (ACB) Harshal Chavan, the alleged accused, Mahendra Solanki (33), was posted in Wada taluka and operated from the Ganeshpuri office of the range forest department, according to the PTI.

He said that a 48-year-old man from Komshet village approached the ACB with a complaint, alleging that Solanki had demanded Rs 50,000 to allow him to construct his house sanctioned under the PMAY, as per the PTI.

The official said the new house was being built opposite the villager`s current residence, and permission was sought from the forest department, as the area fell under forest jurisdiction, the news agency reported.

The man claimed that Solanki not only demanded the bribe to grant permission, but he also threatened to stop or demolish the construction if the sum was not paid.

The official said Solanki eventually settled for Rs 20,000, and the ACB laid a trap to nab him on April 1, but he did not show up to collect the bribe, and the operation was stalled.

The police registered a case based on the ACB`s probe, he said, adding that no arrest has been made in the case.

Electricity department engineer caught taking Rs 2-lakh bribe in Palghar

Meanwhile, in an another incident, last month a 42-year-old junior engineer from state-run power distributor Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) was reportedly arrested while accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh in Maharashtra`s Palghar district, an officer from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had earlier said, as per the PTI.

According to the PTI, the suspect who was identified as Atul Awhad, from Ashagad, under the Dahanu sub-division of MSEDCL, had allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh to spare a cattle shed owner from action for stealing electricity.

The junior engineer brought down the bribe amount to Rs 2 lakh after negotiations, the officer said.

Acting on a complaint, the ACB laid a trap and nabbed Awhad allegedly while he was accepting the bribe on Thursday, ACB`s Deputy Superintendent of Police Harshal Chavan said. The Dahanu Police have booked Awhad under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the PTI had reported.

(with PTI inputs)