Maharashtra crime: Woman sarpanch, panchayat staffer held for accepting Rs 60,000 bribe in Palghar

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Maharashtra crime: A woman sarpanch and an official of a gram panchayat were arrested for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 60,000 for issuing a no objection certificate at a village in Maharashtra's Palghar district, an official said on Friday, the PTI reported on Friday.

According to the news agency, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested Dashana Dattatreya Pimple, sarpanch of Pam village, and the gram panchayat's collection clerk Bhavesh Ganpat Pimple, deputy superintendent of police Palghar ACB Dayanand Gawade said.

The sarpanch had allegedly demanded Rs 60,000 to issue an NOC to the complainant, who runs a security agency, he said, as per the PTI.

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An offence under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the duo, the official said.

The ACB laid a trap and caught the clerk while he was accepting the bribe amount on behalf of the sarpanch at the gram panchayat office on Thursday evening, he said.

Meanwhile, in an another incident in mid-September, The Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths, on Friday, said that they have arrested an official of Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), a state government, undertaking, for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a Thane man, stated a PTI report.

According to the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Thane ACB), Sanju John, the anti-corruption bureau on Thursday registered an offence against senior clerk Sripat Khade (52) of the MJP under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Reportedly, the accused official had demanded Rs 5000 from the complainant for registering him as a contractor with the MJP. The state government undertaking provides technical sanctions and implements water supply and sewerage projects.

The PTI report quoted the official saying that they laid a trap for the accused official on Thursday and they caught him red-handed while accepting the bribe amount.

The ACB on Thursday booked another official from the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) in Palghar district. The official was accused of demanding a bribe from a surgeon who was authorized to conduct health check-ups for employees in various factories and issue medical certificates.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dayanand Gawde, said that the accused requested the surgeon to pay Rs 50 for each person he examined between November 2022 and June 2023 which totaled Rs 31,500 for nearly 630 individuals the doctor had examined.

(with PTI inputs)