Govt officer takes bribe, arrested

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested an assistant audit officer from the state revenue and forest department for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs10,000 from a forest ranger. The ranger belonged to Pandarakawda taluka in Yavatmal district. 

According to the ACB, on December 17 last year, audit officer Shrikant More and one of his colleagues had visited the complainant’s department for inspection.

“After inspection, they pointed out discrepancies in the functioning of the department and asked the complainant to submit a clarification by December 29,” said an ACB officer.

When the complainant visited More’s office, he was asked to get Rs3,000 from each of the six rangers.

However, after negotiations, the amount was brought down to Rs10,000. The complainant lodged a case with the ACB. “On Thursday, we laid a trap and caught More,” said the officer.