Navi Mumbai: Revenue official arrested by ACB for taking bribe

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has nabbed a revenue official in Navi Mumbai for allegedly seeking and receiving a bribe over land records, according to an official statement issued on Friday.

Shivraj Mhetre, deputy superintendent of police of the ACB`s Navi Mumbai unit, told PTI that the accused, Kiran Arjun Gore (48), works as a revenue assistant in the Panvel tehsil office.

Gore allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from an individual to assist in the conversion of two ancestral land holdings from Category II to Category I under the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act. However, after talks, the bribe was lowered to Rs 80,000, reported PTI. 

According to the report, the complainant, unwilling to bribe, reported the incident to the ACB, causing them to set up a trap. Consequently, Gore was detained on Thursday evening while taking Rs 40,000 as part of the agreed-upon bribe payment.

A case has been launched against Gore at the Panvel police station under the Prevention of Corruption Act, PTI report further stated.

Meanwhile, in another incident, authorities said on Friday that three people who were suspected of stealing jewellery and money from a house in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, valued at around Rs 7.5 lakh, were caught trying to flee aboard a long-distance train.

Senior Inspector Raju Mane of the Manickpur police station told news agency PTI that the crime happened on March 7 at a Vasai home when the owners were away. Later, the family found missing valuables and cash worth Rs 7.52 lakh, which prompted the police to open an inquiry and file an FIR, reported PTI. 

With the use of CCTV footage, technical insights, and information, law enforcement was able to identify the three individuals who committed the crime. On Wednesday, they were taken into custody from the Gorakhpur Express train in Nashik, the report further added. 

According to the PTI report, the stolen jewellery and money were seized from the three people who were arrested: Lalkesar alias Baccha Dadan Rai, Mohammad Sayeed alias Shannu Garibulla Khan, and Rakesh Kumar alias Chakki Ramraj Yadav.

Rai is a native of the Fadarwadi neighbourhood of Vasai, whilst Yadav and Khan live in Mumbai. The three have also been linked to other cases that the Mumbai police department`s Goregaon branch has filed, the PTI report added.