HURDLES IN RENOVATION WORK
BMC engineer arrested for taking bribe
A junior engineer with the BMC was arrested by officials of the
anti-corruption bureau on Friday while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from
an interior decorator. Rajendra Phadnis, attached to the P ward, was
arrested in his office at Mulund. Officials said Phadnis had threatened to
stop renovation work being carried out in three flats of a housing society
by the complainant, Dhiren Bahua, if the bribe was not paid.
A trap was laid after Dhiren and his brother, Nayan, who is a pilot with
the Indian Air Force, approached the ACB on Wednesday.
Speaking to TOI, Nayan said his brother was working on renovation of
three flats in the building they lived in at Mulund (east). One of the flats
belongs to the brothers’ uncle. “Flooring and plastering work was going on
in the three flats. Phadnis first visited our building on Saturday but did
not visit us then. He made inquiries with the watchman and labourers working
in the building. He then left a message for my brother on a piece of paper
about his visit,” Nayan said.
On Monday, Phadnis visited the building again and said the renovation
work could not go on. He asked the watchman to summon the
Bahua brothers. “Phadnis said there were certain anomalies in the renovation
work and threatened to stop it and initiate action. He added that a
‘settlement’ could be reached at, demanding Rs 15,000 per flat (a total of
Rs 45,000) as bribe,” Nayan said.
Dhiren was asked to arrange for the money and reach Phadnis’s office on
Wednesday. When Dhiren did not go, Phadnis started giving him missed calls
on his cellphone. “My brother was fed up. I then suggested that we should
approach the ACB and searched for their numbers on the internet. We met the
ACB officers on Wednesday,” Nayan said. Accompanied by three officers,
Dhiren visited Phadnis at his office on Thursday and recorded his
conversation while demanding the money. After some bargaining, Phadnis
brought down the bribe amount from Rs 45,000 to Rs 24,000 and eventually to
Rs 20,000.
Dhiren agreed to bring the amount the following morning. Sleuths laid a
trap and nabbed Phadnis red-handed, ACB officials said. ACB sources said
that Phadnis’ residence at Andheri (east) would be searched. “We are probing
whether Phadnis had any other source of income and whether he possessed any
assets from that income,” an official added.