Two BMC officials arrested for taking bribe worth Rs15 lakh

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths on Saturday arrested two BMC officials, an assistant municipal commissioner and assistant engineer of (M-East ward), for demanding a bribe of Rs15 lakh from a man for giving him a contract of Rs150 crore.

The assistant engineer was caught red-handed taking a bribe of Rs 82,000 in his office.

The complainant has been supplying garbage vans to the civic body since 2006, the ACB sources said.

“Assistant municipal commissioner A R Khan of the M East Ward in Chembur was posted for past two months and after that he was allegedly demanding 3% of the bill amount from the contractors to clear the bill through assistant engineer, Ayub Sheikh,” said an ACB officer, adding that Khan also threatened the complainant that if he would not pay him 3% cut of the bill amount, then he will impose penalties.

“The complainant alleged that Khan had demanded Rs15 lakh for giving a contract of Rs150 crore,” said the ACB.

The contractor then approached the ACB office and lodged a complaint against Khan and Sheikh. ACB officers verified the allegation and laid a trap in the BMC office. 

“We caught assistant engineer Sheikh red-handed for taking a bribe of Rs 82,000 from the complainant in his office and following which he was arrested. We also arrested Khan.” said additional commissioner of police Niket Kaushik of the ACB.

The duo will be produced in the court on Sunday.