A 32-year-old assistant engineer with the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) was caught allegedly accepting a Rs 50,000-bribe from an electrical contractor at his office in Taloja on Thursday in a trap laid by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Navi Mumbai.
The accused has been identified as Rohit Revanand More, a Class-II officer employed in the Taloja division. According to ACB, More allegedly demanded the bribe to process official approvals for a new electricity meter connection and transformer installation.
The complainant, a 40-year-old electrical contractor from Taloja, had been awarded the work by PN Electricals. The work order was issued in his name for obtaining a new electricity connection and installing a transformer.
An application seeking approval was submitted to MSEDCL on July 7, following which the feasibility report was to be prepared by More.
According to the ACB, when the contractor visited the MSEDCL office on July 10 to enquire about pending files related to the project, More allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 for preparing the feasibility report and clearing the proposal. The officer allegedly told the contractor that none of his future files would be processed unless the amount was paid.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the contractor approached the Navi Mumbai unit of the ACB on July 13 and lodged a formal complaint.
ACB seizes mobile phone, launches further probe into bribery case
During a verification exercise conducted on July 14, ACB officials confirmed the alleged demand for the bribe. Based on the verification, the bureau laid a trap on Thursday.
At 1.12 pm, More allegedly accepted the tainted currency notes of Rs 50,000 inside his office, following which the trap team caught him red-handed.
"The demand was verified during the preliminary inquiry, and the accused was caught while accepting the bribe amount in his office. Further legal action is underway," said Dharmraj Sonkhe, Deputy Superintendent of Police, ACB Navi Mumbai.
The accused's mobile phone has been seized for investigation, while searches are being conducted at his residence. A case is being registered against More under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, at Taloja Police Station.
The trap operation was led by Police Inspector Arundhati Yelve, while the investigation is being carried out by Police Inspector Nita Bhosale under the guidance of Dharmraj Sonkhe. The operation was supervised by senior ACB officers Shivraj Patil, Suhas Shinde, and Bhagwat Sonawane.
* This article was originally published here
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