BMC officer booked, 2 held for seeking Rs 2 crore bribe from a property developer in Mumbai
BMC officer booked, 2 held for seeking Rs 2 crore bribe from a property developer in Mumbai
A case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against a BMC officer and two apprehended accused persons. The probe was underway.
August 8, 2024
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a case against a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officer and arrested two persons for taking a bribe from a property developer in exchange for not razing illegal floors of his building.
The main accused is identified as Mandar Ashok Tari, a designated officer of the BMC’s K East Ward office in Andheri East. The ACB nabbed Mohammed Shehzaad Saha (33) and Pratik Pise (35) while accepting Rs 75 lakh as the first installment of the bribe amount on behalf of the civic official on Tuesday, August 6. The BMC official is on the run. However, the builder outsmarted them by including duplicate notes with a face value of Rs 73 lakh.
According to ACB, the developer built a four-storey building in Andheri. He received a notice in January stating that two of the floors were illegal. Responding to this notice in February, he said BMC partly demolished it. The developer filed a writ petition before HC, which set aside the BMC order.
In June, the BMC again issued a notice, making the builder go back to the court, which set aside both the BMC orders.
On July 26, ward officer Govind Shelke and some other officials, including Tari, inspected the building. The next day, when he went to meet an official in Shelke’s presence, they threatened him and allegedly demanded Rs 2 crore to not raze the two floors. They also promised to protect his illegal construction in the future, as the developer was planning to construct another building on the plot, the builder said.
The builder approached the ACB and lodged a complaint against Tari.
Police said they have recovered Rs 9 lakh from a car belonging to Pise, who failed to provide its source. ACB officials suspect the involvement of a few more BMC officers.
A case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against BMC officer Tari and two apprehended accused persons. The probe is underway.
