Forest officer booked for bribery in Palghar, Maharashtra ACB finds Rs 1.32 crore cash, 57 tola gold ornaments from house

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The Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) found over Rs 1.31 crore cash in the house of a state forest department official who has been reportedly booked for allegedly demanding Rs 20 lakh bribe from a villager to get back his land, an official said on Wednesday, reported the PTI.

A team of the Anti-Corruption Bureau also found gold ornaments of 57 tolas and documents of two flats during the search conducted at the forest officer Sandeep Choure's house on Tuesday evening, said the ACB DYSP, Palghar.

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Officials of ACB found Rs 1,31,96,000 cash from Choure's house, gold ornaments of 57 tolas, and documents relating to a 584 sq feet flat in Khandala, Beed, and another flat in Karanjade of Navi Mumbai, the ACB stated in a release, according to the PTI.

A service pistol and six live cartridges were also recovered during the search.

ACB officials seized a car belonging to another accused in the bribe demand case, Chandrakant Patil.

An FIR was registered against Choure, the Forest Circle Officer, Mandvi range, and two persons in Palghar district on Tuesday for allegedly demanding a Rs 20 lakh bribe for helping a villager get back his land taken over in 2005 by SGNP (Sanjay Gandhi National Park) authorities.

Two private persons negotiated with the complainant and negotiated the bribe demand to Rs 10 lakh, and agreed to accept the money, the ACB had stated.

The trio allegedly came to Evershine city in Vasai on December 13 but didn't collect the money. The ACB lodged an FIR at Mandvi police station on Monday under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

No arrest has been made so far.

Revenue official held over bribery in Thane

Meanwhile, in an another incident, last week, the ACB had said that a revenue official from Maharashtra's Thane district has been arrested for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 to update some land records, reported news agency PTI.

Accused Santosh Mahadeo Patil works as an assistant at the tehsildar's office in Kalyan, the ACB said in a release.

According to the anti-graft agency, the complainant had approached Patil to get his name recorded against a piece of land that he recently bought. He also completed the necessary formalities.

However, Patil demanded Rs 40,000 to update the records, claiming that he would keep half of the amount and the remaining Rs 20,000 would go to the tehsildar, reported PTI.

After being alerted by the complainant, ACB laid a trap and caught Patil red-handed after he accepted the money on Wednesday evening, the release said, adding he has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

(with PTI inputs)