MHADA official held for seeking Rs 2,000 bribe

Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths on Tuesday arrested an accountant working with MHADA for allegedly demanding bribe from a building contractor. The accused, identified as Rashid Shaikh, had sought a bribe from a contractor who wanted his deposit money back after he failed to secure a tender.

Shaikh, 42, works as a departmental accountant at MHADA's Bandra office. According to the ACB, the complainant had filed a tender at the MHADA office some time ago. The tender was rejected after which the contractor sought a refund of the tender deposit money from MHADA.

"As per the complainant, in order to return the tender deposit money, Shaikh demanded a Rs 2,000 bribe from him. Shaikh also threatened the complainant that if he will not pay the bribe, he would impede the deposit money of future tenders as well," said an ACB official.

Harassed by these consistent demands for bribes, the complainant then approached the ACB. After verifying the allegations made by the complainant, an ACB team decided to lay a trap.

"A trap was laid on Tuesday at Shaikh's MHADA office, and he was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 2,000 from the complainant," said the official.