Govt employee, aide held in Rs 35,000 bribery case

Thane, Oct 30 (PTI) The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested a government employee and one more person in Maharashtra's Thane for allegedly demanding and accepting Rs 35,000 bribe from a 73-year-old man in exchange of releasing the documents related to his property, officials said on Thursday.

The accused were identified as Deepak Madhukarrao Isal (34), a senior clerk at the office of the Joint District Registrar (Class 1) and Stamps District Officer, and Ajit Vitthal Kokamkar (50), an official said.

According to inspector Sharmila Patil of the Thane ACB, the complainant in the case wanted the original purchase deed papers of a plot at a housing society in Bhayandar.

When he approached the joint registrar's office, Isal allegedly directed him to deal with Kokamkar, who was assisting in such matters. Kokamkar demanded a total bribe of Rs 70,000, saying the money was necessary to obtain the original property documents. Later he brought down the amount to Rs 65,000.

The complainant then approached the ACB, which laid a trap and Kokamkar was caught accepting Rs 35,000 as the first instalment of the bribe.

Subsequently, the ACB arrested Isal as he was allegedly found to be part of the wrongdoing.

The accused duo was taken into custody, and a case was registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, he said. PTI COR NP