The Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested a junior engineer and a civic worker of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 60,000 from a bakery owner in Mumbai, an official said.
The agency said it also recovered more than Rs 2.78 lakh in unaccounted cash during the operation. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further investigation is under way.
The arrested men were identified as junior engineer Niravkumar Chunilal Jaisur, 43, and civic worker Vijay Ramesh Patil, 46, both posted in Andheri (West). According to the ACB, the 50-year-old complainant runs a bakery business.
The ACB said Patil approached the businessman and demanded a bribe of Rs 70,000 on behalf of himself and Jaisur in return for allowing the bakery to function smoothly and ensuring that no administrative action was taken against the establishment. Unwilling to pay, the businessman approached the Mumbai unit of the ACB and lodged a complaint on Wednesday.
During verification of the complaint, Patil allegedly repeated the demand for Rs 70,000 and introduced the complainant to his superior, Jaisur. After negotiations, Jaisur agreed to reduce the amount and settled on Rs 60,000, police said.
After the verification, the ACB laid a trap at the civic body office in Andheri. Patil was caught red-handed while accepting the Rs 60,000 bribe from the complainant, and Jaisur was then taken into custody from his office, the official said.
During a personal search, ACB officials recovered Rs 40,820 in cash from Patil and found another Rs 2,37,600 in his bag. Investigators also seized two mobile phones from Jaisur and one from Patil. The case centres on an alleged demand for money to let the bakery operate without action, and the probe is continuing.
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