A block development officer (BDO) from Pune, who was instrumental in creating a model village by constructing more than 10,000 toilets and stopping open defecation in 2016, and was recognised for this by the PMO and the state government, was suspended recently. He was accused of allegedly demanding a bribe on the basis of an audio tape. Satish Gadhve, the BDO, has claimed the tape is doctored, and he was targeted by powerful gram sevaks from Junnar district, against whom he had filed an FIR for financial irregularities just few months ago. On Wednesday he filed a plea before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) requesting that his suspension order be quashed.

Facts of the case
In his plea (a copy is with this paper) Gadhve claimed that since July 13, 2016, he has been serving as a BDO at the Panchayat Samiti, Junnar; Under Secretary Rural Development, Fort and Deputy Secretary Village Development, Mantralaya. Gadhve claimed that he received lot of complaints regarding financial irregularities and corruption by some gram sevaks, in league with some political leaders including sarpanchs.