Arrested deputy civic chief has assets worth Rs 80 lakh
Suresh Pawar was nabbed while accepting Rs 2.5 lakh as bribe from a contractor
Suresh Pawar was nabbed while accepting Rs 2.5 lakh as bribe from a contractor
Two days after trapping a senior official of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) while taking bribe, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths have found assets to the tune of Rs 80 lakh from his house and office.
The Thane ACB had arrested deputy municipal commissioner Suresh Pawar while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh from a contractor, Vijay Ingale, on Wednesday. The contractor had been appointed for collection of tax on signboards. Pawar was in charge of property tax and had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 3 lakh from Ingale for issuing the work order. After much reluctance, Pawar had scaled down his demand to Rs 2.5 lakh.
Besides the Rs 2.5 lakh recovered from Pawar on the day of his arrest, the ACB officials also found Rs 1 lakh of unaccounted cash stashed in his office drawer.
According to ACB officials, gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 1.91 lakh and cash worth Rs 1 lakh were unearthed in a raid on Pawar’s residence . They also found two vehicles being used by Pawar – a Toyota Qualis and a Tata Indigo.
Besides these, the officials also came across documents related to numerous shops and flats. So far, the investigation has pointed to Pawar owning 11 flats. The sleuths also found receipts of bank fixed deposits, insurance premiums and insurance certificates to the tune of Rs 8 lakh. They also came across documents proving that Pawar had accounts in 14 banks.
According to civic sources, the complete inventory of Pawar’s assets may yield unaccounted wealth to the tune of Rs 1.25 crore. The ACB officials have also involved the income-tax department officials to ascertain the extent of undeclared assets.
When contacted, municipal commissioner Govind Rathod, who was in Delhi, said he would take appropriate action once the facts are placed before him on his return.