Forest officer arrested for taking bribe of Rs55 lakh

The Panvel city police have arrested a range of forest officers for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs55 lakh from a Navi Mumbai-based real estate developer and implicating him in a fake red sanders transportation case. Three other forest officers, who are also involved in the crime, are still on the run and police are searching for them.

According to the police, Rajesh Kokarkar, 35, a resident of Koparkhairane, and three other persons were held by the directorate revenue intelligence, along with a truck loaded with red sanders, on December 12. The case was later transferred to the forest department.

Four range forest officers, Anil Parab, HT Ahire, P Alunkar and Dnaneshwar Chikle, allegedly demanded Rs2 crore from Kokarkar to resolve the matter. "Alunkar also fired bullets to scare him while asking for the money. Kokarkar could manage only Rs55 lakh and hence the officers took actions against him as per the law," said Praful Bhingarde, police inspector from Panvel police station.

After Kokarkar was released on bail, he approached the ministry of forest and sought justice. Panvel police was then directed to start the investigation, following which they arrested Chikle from Pune on Sunday night. He has been booked for extortion, forgery, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

"Other three officers are now absconding and we hope to get hold of them soon. Chikle has been remanded to police cutody till March 28," another police officer said.