ACB arrests Mumbai lawyer for accepting Rs 4.5 lakh bribe on behalf of GRP inspector

Mumbai, Sep 24 (PTI) Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has nabbed a lawyer for accepting a Rs 4.50 lakh bribe on behalf of a GRP inspector from a friend of a man, arrested in a criminal case here, for not apprehending him too in the same matter, officials said on Wednesday.

The lawyer, Arunkumar Samarbahadur Singh, was caught by the ACB while accepting the bribe amount on Monday, an official said.

Singh demanded and accepted the bribe allegedly on behalf of Government Railway Police inspector Rohit Yashwant Sawant, posted at the GRP crime branch at Dadar Railway Police Station, he said.

Sawant has now been shown as a wanted accused in the bribery case.

The inspector was part of a team that was probing a case filed at the Bandra Railway Police Station in which two persons posing as policemen robbed a businessman of Rs 10.50 lakh. The duo escaped with the cash while checking businessman's luggage at Bandra Railway Terminus on September 1, according to the official.

Police subsequently arrested the duo, including one Pravin Shukla, and also a female assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Bandra Railway Police Station for her alleged role in the robbery incident.

As the GRP crime branch was probing the robbery case, lawyer Singh approached a friend of one of the arrested accused, Shukla, and threatened that he, too, will be implicated in the offence and apprehended, said the official.

To avoid arrest, Singh demanded Rs 10 lakh from Shukla's friend and told him the amount will be given to inspector Sawant, who was part of the probe team. Accordingly, Singh met the friend of the arrested accused and collected Rs 5 lakh as a part payment on September 13, he stated.

The lawyer then arranged a meeting between Shukla's friend and Sawant, who insisted on payment of the remaining Rs 5 lakh of the promised sum, the official informed.

Shukla's friend approached the ACB Mumbai unit and lodged a complaint against the lawyer and the GRP inspector. Accordingly, a trap was laid by the ACB, which caught Singh while accepting Rs 4.5 lakh from the complainant and later placed him under arrest, he said.

The ACB has registered a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against lawyer Singh and inspector Sawant.

Further probe was underway and the anti-graft agency was looking for Sawant, the official said. PTI DC RSY