Official of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested two clerks of Food Distribution and Supply (FD&S) office on Wednesday night for taking bribe of Rs 60,000 from a ration shop owner to reissue the licence.
The arrested clerks were identified as Amitosh Patki (36) and Ambadas Chavan (43). Patki and Chavan work as junior and senior clerk at the Food Distribution and Supply office, located on the Central Building premises. Even the ACB office is located on the same premises.u00a0
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Action was taken based on a complaint lodged by Pramod Solanki (27), a resident of Shivajinagar. Officials said Solanki and his sister Santoshi ran a ration shop in Shivajinagar. During an inspection in January 2012, officials from the FD&S office discovered that the shop lacked adequate stock of grain and cancelled the licence.
Santoshi then went to Mantralaya in Mumbai and appealed the concerned ministry to revoke the cancellation. “On October 18, the concerned ministry ordered the Food Distribution and Supply office to reissue the licence and the file was sent to the office in the city,” ACB Police Inspector Rajendra Galande said.
He said when Solanki went to FD&S office, Patki and Chavan demanded Rs 2 lakh from him to clear his file. He was told that they would get the job done through the officer in-charge and the deal was closed at Rs 1 lakh.
“The complainant was supposed to pay Rs 60,000 on Wednesday night. Since he wasn’t in favour of paying the money to the clerks, the disgruntled complainant the ACB office and lodged the complaint against the two clerks,” Galande said. “Based on his complaint, we laid a trap near the office on Wednesday night and arrested the two clerks while accepting of Rs 60,000.”
After their arrest, officials raided Chavan’s residence and recovered Rs 15 lakh and gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 11 lakh. In addition, value of his residence was estimated at Rs 40 lakh.u00a0
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