The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a BMC health officer in Kandivli for accepting a Rs 30,000 bribe to allow a cafe to operate illegally on industrial estate land in Charkop, Kandivli West. Acting on a tip-off from the cafe owner, the ACB laid a trap and caught the officer red-handed during a meeting where the bribe was being collected in exchange for permission to operate without a license.

The complainant, Ravi Lakhani, 37, runs ‘The Bean Box Cafe’ inside Backyard Snooker, located on land designated for industrial use under the Kandivli Co-operative Industrial Estate. Lakhani admitted to police that he had been operating without a formal rental agreement, a health license, or Eating House permission.

Following mid-day’s reports, the state government directed the collector to reclaim land illegally being used for commercial activity. A total of 116 acres and 20 gunthas of industrial land in the estate have been earmarked for industrial use only. The BMC also initiated action against several violators. Police said Lakhani had been running the cafe for about a year, paying R28,000 per month to the land occupier.