Thane deputy civic commissioner among 2 remanded in police custody in bribery case

Thane, Oct 2 (PTI) A deputy commissioner of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and a private individual, arrested in a Rs 25 lakh bribery case, were on Thursday produced before a local court which remanded them to police custody till October 4.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Shankar Patole, who was heading the TMC's Encroachment Control and Eviction Department, and a private person, Omkar Gaikar, were arrested during a raid carried out by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) at the civic headquarters on Wednesday.

They were produced before Additional Sessions Judge VG Mohite, who after hearing submissions by ACB officials, remanded the duo to police custody till October 4.

While advocate Vishal Bhanushali appeared for Patole, Gaikar was represented by advocate Jayesh Tikhe.

A third person named in the bribery FIR, Sushant Surve, is currently at large. The FIR naming Patole, Gaikar and Surve, also a private person, was registered under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, according to the ACB.

The ACB sought the custody of the duo on various grounds, including for carrying out further probe into the crime and locate the third accused.

A real estate developer, Abhijit Kadam, who holds development rights for a plot in Vishnu Nagar in Naupada, complained to the Mumbai ACB that a Thane civic official (Patole) had allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh as bribe for removing an encroachment on his premises in the city.

The complainant claimed he had already paid a sum of Rs 10 lakh to the official through Surve on July 4.

The builder was handing over the remaining Rs 25 lakh to Gaikar in the cabin of Patole at the TMC headquarters on Wednesday when the ACB trapped the duo and arrested them.

Patole's advocate claimed there was no nexus between his client and the arrested data operator or the absconding accused.

He also told court Patole was "falsely implicated due to a grudge over his prior anti-encroachment actions".

While granting custody, the court said the "nature of the crime is serious and the possibility of big racket consisting several government officials and clerks of municipal corporation cannot be ruled out".

It said custody was needed to obtain voice samples of the two arrested accused, and also to find out if they had demanded bribes from other persons for eviction proceedings in this manner.

The arrests were made on the 43rd anniversary of the civic corporation.

Further probe into the case will be carried out by the Thane unit of the ACB, officials said. PTI COR RSY BNM