Former Mr Asia arrested for demanding bribe

Former Mr Asia (2010) and naib tehsildar of Panvel, Maharashtra Shree Suhash Khamkar has been arrested by the Raigad anti-corruption bureau for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs50,000 from a resident of that area.

According to ACB officials, the complainant had purchased a piece of land under the 7/12 extract from another a resident a couple of months ago. However, it was yet to transferred to his name. Khamkar had asked for the money when he applied for the same.

"Khamkar had initially demanded Rs60,000 for transferring the land to the complainant's name. But he finally agreed to do it for Rs50,000. He had told the complainant to give the money to one of his acquaintances, Ganesh Bhogade in Panvel," said SP Kalgutkar, deputy SP (ACB, Raigad).

"The complainant approached us after he was asked to pay the money. We laid a trap and asked him to go ahead, according to our plan. Finally, we caught Bhogade red-handed while accepting the cash on Monday afternoon," he said.

"During interrogation, Bhogade revealed he was asked to accept the cash by Khamkar. We then arrested him too from his office."

An FIR has been registered with the Panvel police against the duo. They have been booked under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Apart from the Mr Asia title, Khamkar had won the Mr India title four times.