Two forest staffers booked for accepting Rs 25,000 bribe in Thane district

Thane, Aug 29 (PTI) Two staffers of the forest department were caught allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000 from a man for not registering a case against his relatives for the sale of peacock feathers in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Friday.

Based on a complaint, the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday caught Nilesh Sitaram Shravane (47), a forester (Class-3) and forest guard Machhindra Prakash Sontakke (25), inspector Sachin More said.

He said Shravane allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 from the complainant for not registering a case against his relatives in connection with the sale of peacock feathers.

A trap was laid after Shravane reduced the bribe amount to R 25,000 and directed the complainant to hand over the money to the accused forest guard, the official said.

A case has been registered against the accused forest staffers under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further probe is underway, he said. PTI COR ARU