2 ammo factory officials held for taking Rs 4K bribe from food vendor

Officials of the anti-corruption branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) yesterday arrested two employees of the Ammunition Factory, Khadaki, for taking a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a Chinese food vendor to return his stall, which was seized by the factory administration last year.

The complainant in the case was the vendor, Ashok Yadav, who used to operate his Chinese stall alongside the wall of the factory.u00a0

The arrested suspects were identified as Ashok Kamble and Vikas Pardeshi, both junior managers in the Y&E Section of the ammunition factory.

"Yadav used to run his Chinese stall along the wall of the Ammunition Factory, Khadaki, for several years, but the stall was seized by the officials of ammunition factory stating he had violated some lease rules," Police Inspector, ACB (CBI), D K Bali said.

He said that after confiscating the stall, Yadav ran from pillar to post to get his stall back, but Kamble and Pardeshi refused to release it.

"On October 6, Yadav again went to Kamble and Pardeshi and demanded his stall, but the duo demanded Rs 4,000 from him to release the stall and they also told him that he would be issued an official receipt of Rs 300," Bali said.

Yadav then approached the CBI and lodged a complaint against Kamble and Pardeshi, following which a team led by Bali laid a trap near Pardeshi's residence and arrested him while accepting the bribe.

Both accused were remanded in CBI custody till friday by a Shivajinagar court.u00a0