TOI : Rs 13k bribe lands Vasai tehsildar in ACB custody : Nov 5,2007

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Thane, arrested Vasai tehsildar Anant Sankhe, 50, and two of his employees, for accepting a bribe of Rs 13,000 to issue a non-agricultural (NA) certificate to a stone quarry owner. ACB sources said Rs 35 lakh in cash was also recovered from Sankhe’s Virar flat.

Rajesh Sinh, 28, a stone quarry owner from Nallasopara had applied to the tehsil office for an NA certificate. However, he was shocked when Sankhe demanded Rs 25,000 to attest his signature. Sinh was told to give the amount to Sankhe’s driver Sunil Jadhav, 42. That was not all. One of the office clerks, Manoj Desale, 45, too, demanded Rs 5,000 to push the file to Sankhe. When Sinh haggled over the amount, Sankhe settled for Rs 13,000 while Desale agreed to Rs 1,400. Angry at being asked for a bribe when all his papers were in place, Sinh informed deputy superintendent of police (DySP), ACB, Thane, Kedar Datar, who laid a trap on Wednesday.

Jadhav and Desale were nabbed red-handed while accepting the bribe. Sankhe was questioned after Jadhav revealed his name.

According to the police, Sankhe was arrested and his house raided even as he brazenly tried to bribe Jadhav into dropping the case. The ACB is also probing Sankhe’s business partnership with a Khar builder.

Sankhe, Jadhav and Desale have been arrested under Sections 7(illegal gratification), 12(misuse of power as a government officer), 13(1) (d),and 13 (2) (illegal gain by a government servant) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amended) Act, 1988 and were produced before the Special Court, ACB, Thane, on Thursday afternoon. They have been remanded to police custody till October 8.Vasai tehsildar Anant Sankhe

Vasai tehsildar Anant Sankhe

(Left) Rajesh Sinh, the stone quarry owner from Nallasopara, and (right) deputy superintendent of police, ACB, Thane, Kedar Datar, who laid a trap and arrested the tehsildar

Publication:Mumbai Mirror ; Date:Nov 5, 2007; Section:City; Page Number:7

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