Three public servants in ACB net for taking bribes

The deputy commissioner of the fisheries department has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) following a complaint against him by a fisherman. Rajendra Jadhav, a class I government officer, was caught red-handed on Saturday while accepting Rs 20,000 from Peter Patil, a fisherman from Vasai.

Patil, a member of the Sarvoday Macchimaar Society, had applied for subsidy for a fishing trawler that costs around Rs40 lakh, bureau officials said. 

To check the status of his application, Patil visited the fisheries department office in Bandra and met Jadhav, officer in-charge who was to give sanction for the subsidy. “Jadhav demanded Rs25,000 from Patil to give the sanction and the required signatures on his file,” said Prabhakar Satam, additional deputy commissioner of police, ACB, adding that after bargaining, Jadhav allegedly settled for Rs20,000.

Patil filed a complaint with the ACB and the bureau laid a trap at Jadhav’s Bandra office and arrested him.

In another case, the ACB arrested a ward inspector and a superintendent from the civic department for accepting bribe of Rs35,000.

The complainant, Mahesh Thakkar, an estate agent from Malad had bought a chawl in his wife’s name in 2006. He paid property tax of Rs150 each for the 26 rooms in the chawl. Recently, Chandrakant Chavan, area inspector from the P north ward approached Thakkar and told him that his property tax was revised to Rs850 per room, and could be reduced if he paid him Rs80,000.

Thakkar was introduced to superintendent Bharat Sawant, who also offered to reduce the tax if he agreed. Thakkar filed a complaint with the ACB and Chavan and Sawant were arrested while accepting the first installment of Rs35,000.