MHADA officer arrested for taking bribe

An executive engineer working with the Maharashtra Housing Area and Development Authority (MHADA) was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday on the charge of taking a bribe.

The accused, Suyrakant Deshmukh, 55, was posted at MHADA's C-3 department at Chandanwadi, Marine Lines.

According to the ACB, the engineer was reported by a MHADA contractor who had undertaken repairs of a cessed building at MSS Lane in Chandanwadi's Sonapur.

"The total bill for the work was Rs 8 lakh. On Tuesday, Deshmukh demanded 2 per cent of the bill amount to clear the bill amount. This meant he was asking for a bribe of Rs 16,000. He also demanded another Rs 5,000 for vigilance clearance, but eventually agreed to accept Rs 20,000 in all," said an ACB officer.

The contractor did not want to pay the bribe and so he approached the ACB, after which a team of officers led by the bureau's additional deputy police commissioner Ravindra Patil laid a trap at Deshmukh's office on Wednesday.

"Deshmukh had asked the complainant to hand over the bribe money to a private contractor who had arrived at his office. The complainant did as directed by Deshmukh, after which we apprehended him in the case," said the officer.