ACB arrests SDO for demanding bribe
The state Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Pune, on Monday arrested the sub divisional officer (SDO), Maval, Sanjaysingh Ramrao Chavan, for allegedly demanding Rs 75,000 from an engineer for granting permission to start a petrol pump on a piece of land in Shirur. A clerk at the office, Suhas Ramesh Soma (46), who accepted the money, was also arrested.
Engineer, Dattatraya Gulabrao Phalke (45) of Pimpalsuti village in Shirur taluka of Pune district, had filed the complaint with ACB, Pune office.
Vishwas Pandhare, ACB superintendent, Pune said, “Phalke owns 40 gunthas in Shirur. He wanted to start a petrol pump on this land. On September 9, 2010, he filed an application seeking certain permission from the SDO, Maval. On November 18, Chavan demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from Phalke for sanctioning the non-agricultural land for the purpose. Phalke filed a complaint with our office.”
“As per our instructions, Phalke went to the office and negotiated with Chavan, who agreed to do the job for a bribe of Rs 75,000. Chavan asked Phalke to hand over the money to his clerk Suhas Soma,” said Pandhare.
The ACB laid a trap and nabbed Soma at his office accepting Rs 75,000 from Phalke on Monday, around 12 noon.
Chavan had gone to Shikrapur for a meeting. “Our officers went to Shikrapur and nabbed Chavan at around 3.30 pm,” said Pandhare. The ACB has registered an offence against Chavan and Soma at Bund Garden police station. The ACB team was led by deputy superintendents Sanjay Naik Patil, Padmakar Bhalerao and Arun Waikar.
Chavan and Soma would be produced in court on Wednesday. The ACB would conduct searches at Chavan’s residence on Paud Road. According to Pandhare, they had trapped eight class-I officers, including Chavan, and seven class-II officers taking bribe this year.