Palghar, February 12 Two revenue officials from the Palghar district of Maharashtra have been arrested for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe from a beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the Anti-Corruption Bureau said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Gajanan Nagesh Johre (40) and Sitaram Vishnu Indhan (25), were apprehended during an ACB operation on Wednesday evening.
According to the ACB, the 37-year-old complainant was transporting sand from the Lendi river on Tuesday to build his house under the PMAY scheme. The accused intercepted his tractor.
Johre and Indhan allegedly demanded Rs 40,000 to let the complainant go. They allowed him to take the vehicle after he paid Rs 20,000, on the condition that the remaining amount would be paid soon.
The complainant then approached the ACB. On the advice of the anti-graft agency, the complainant negotiated and the officials agreed to settle for a final amount of Rs 10,000, said an ACB official.
A trap was subsequently laid, and both Johre and Indhan were caught red-handed while accepting the bribe in the presence of witnesses, the official said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (ACB) Dadaram Karande said, "Based on the complaint, we conducted a successful trap operation. Both the accused have since been arrested and are currently in custody.”
