10 June,2026 12:43 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
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The Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested a senior official of the Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh to overlook an unauthorised construction, the ACB said on Wednesday, reported PTI.
The accused, identified as Surendra Bhaskar Bhoir, worked as a surveyor-cum-building inspector and held the additional charge of assistant municipal commissioner, it said, reported PTI.
He had allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh from a construction site's supervisor to spare the building from demolition or penal action over alleged irregularities. After negotiations, the accused official agreed to accept the bribe in instalments, Thane ACB Inspector Sachin More said.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the supervisor lodged a complaint with the Thane ACB unit on Tuesday.
The anti-graft team laid a trap at a civic ward office in Padma Nagar on Tuesday evening and caught Bhoir red-handed while accepting Rs 2.5 lakh from the complainant inside a private car parked behind the ward office premises, the official said.
The accused has been booked under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, he added.
In another case, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Saturday caught a police constable and a Home Guard personnel for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 in Beed district of Maharashtra, officials said, reported PTI.
They sought money from a 40-year-old man in exchange of giving documents to him to file an insurance claim following his father's death in a road accident.
The constable was identified as Dattatraya Sahebrao Balwant (41) and the Home Guard personnel as Rashid Dagdukha Pathan (52). Both are attached to the Neknoor police station, reported PTI.
According to the ACB officials, the complainant's father was injured in a motorcycle accident while walking home from his field on March 6, 2026. A case regarding the accident was registered at the Neknoor police station on March 12. The victim succumbed to his injuries during treatment three weeks later.
When the complainant approached Balwant for the official police documents required to claim accidental insurance, the policeman allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 15,000. Following negotiations on June 1, Balwant agreed to settle for Rs 10,000 and instructed the complainant to bring the money along with a witness, reported PTI.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the man approached the Jalna ACB office and lodged a formal complaint.
"We verified the complaint and laid a trap on Saturday. The ACB team caught Pathan red-handed with the bribe," said Balu Sampati Jadhavar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, ACB Jalna, reported PTI.
The anti-graft agency said it has recovered two mobile phones and Rs 2,500 from Balwant, and total Rs 12,500 from Pathan along with a mobile phone.
House searches at the residences of both accused are currently underway. The process of registering a formal case under the Prevention of Corruption Act is also on at the Neknoor police station, after which the duo will be formally placed under arrest, it added.
(With inputs from PTI)
