2 BMC inspectors, their accomplice in ACB net

The Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday arrested two inspectors of the license department of the civic body and their accomplice in a bribery case.

The names of the arrested persons are Nitin Patankar,49, Harishchandra Ghegdamal,53, both attached to the P North Ward in Malad of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The third person arrested is Sudesh Paul,41, who accepted the bribe on their behalf. The complainant in the case is a Charkop resident who had put a signboard on his shop.

In order to not initiate actions against the signboard, the accused demanded a bribe of Rs 2.25 lakh which was later lowered down to Rs 60,000. The complainant approached the ACB in this regard which verified the complaint and registered a case. A trap was laid in this regard in which Patankar asked the complainant to hand over the bribe to Paul.

When Paul accepted the bribe, he was caught redhanded. Subsequently, the inspectors were also arrest

ed by the anti-graft agency.

The accused have been charged under section 7 (public servant taking gratification) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988. The ACB will investigate the assets of the arrested gover nment official for further investigations. The ACB has appealed to people to dial their toll-free number 1064 to report bribe demands made by gover nment servants.