Ahmednagar civic body chief, aide booked by anti-corruption body for seeking bribe of Rs 8 lakh

Ahmednagar/Jalna (Maharashtra), June 27 (IANS) In a sensational development, the Municipal Commissioner and Administrator of Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation and his aide have been booked for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 8 lakh from a realty developer, an official said on Thursday.

The two accused booked and named by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Jalna are -- AMC chief Pankaj Jawale, 47, and his aide Sridhar Deshpande, 48.

According to the ACB Deputy Superintendent of Police Kiran Bidve, the accused allegedly made the bribe demand on June 19 and 20, amounting to Rs 9.30 lakh, which was later trimmed down to Rs 8 lakh.

Following a complaint lodged by the aggrieved realtor from Jalna, the district ACB launched its probe and verified the claims against the AMC chief and his aide.

The complainant, proprietor of 4K Realty here, said that earlier in the year he had purchased a 2,260.22 sq. metre plot of land at Mauje-Nalegaon in the AMC limits.

Along with his partners, the complainant wanted to develop the plot and applied for the online permission to the AMC authorities on March 18.

When the application went to Dr. Jawale and Deshpande, they allegedly demanded the huge bribe amount from the realtor-complainant.

Since the company was not interested in entertaining the graft demands, they approached the ACB Jalna, which laid the trap, and found that Jawale was prodding his aide to demand the illegal gratification.

The ACB Jalna has registered a complaint in the matter with the Tofkhana Police Station in Ahmednagar against Jawale and Deshpande, but the civic body chief is currently reported to be 'missing' from his home and office.

The case was cracked under the guidance of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar ACB Superintendent of Police Sandeep Atole, Additional SP Mukund Aghav, and Bidve's team comprising Shankar Mutekar, Gajan Ghaiwat, Shivaji Jamhadhe, Ganesh Cheke, Ganesh Bujade, Shivling Khule, Atish Tidke, Gajanan Kharat, Vitthal Kapse and Bhalchandra Binorkar.

Further investigations are underway and Bidve has appealed to the citizens that if any public servant or any other person on their behalf demands bribes for doing legal work, they should immediately contact the ACB.

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