Navi Mumbai: An assistant development officer in-charge at Cidco’s registration office in Nerul was arrested by the Navi Mumbai Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) team for allegedly demanding Rs 4 lakh as a bribe from a contractor for issuing a Cidco transfer certificate for an apartment in Sanpada and, after negotiation, accepting a Rs 2 lakh bribe through a middleman.Shailesh Gharat (57) held additional charge at the Cidco registration office, and the middleman Nagendra Pandey (58), is a resident of Ghansoli. Both accused were remanded to police custody for two days, ACB deputy SP Dharmaraj Sonke said.
Sonke stated, “The trap was laid at a hotel near Nerul railway station, where the complainant contractor was told to meet Pandey, whom Gharat allegedly sent as a middleman. On June 11 last year, the contractor submitted an online application to the Cidco office seeking a transfer certificate for an apartment in Sanpada, for which he held the power of attorney. However, Pandey demanded the bribe to issue the certificate. Hence, the complainant lodged a complaint with the ACB office on Jan 22.”Sonke said, “Upon verification of the complaint on Jan 27, Gharat’s bribery was confirmed, with Pandey as the middleman. Accordingly, a trap was laid on Jan 28 afternoon at a hotel near Nerul railway station, where Pandey was caught red-handed while accepting the Rs 2 lakh bribe from the complainant. As Pandey claimed that he had accepted the bribe on behalf of Gharat, our team reached the Cidco registration office in Nerul and arrested Gharat. We seized the mobile phones of both Gharat and Pandey for examination of technical evidence. The process of conducting a house search of Gharat is underway. An FIR has been registered at Nerul police station against the accused Gharat and Pandey under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.”
