Gadchiroli Feb. 9 (District Correspondent) A Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) official has been caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Gadchiroli while accepting a bribe of Rs 83,000 for not taking action against the tractor owner transporting soil from the forest area for the construction of a gharkul.
An offence has also been registered against the Range Forest Officer Ms. Mamta Rathod and Forest Guard Ganesh Rathod for assisting him in the said bribery case.
The action was taken on February 8 last at the Allapalli Forest Range Office under the Pranhita Forest Project Department, Allapalli. The name of the officer who took the bribe is Maroti Gaikwad and the person was working as a Round Officer.
According to the information given by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the complainant was transporting soil from a nullah in Tanbodi Beat in the Nagepalli sub-area of the Allapalli forest range of the FDCM Project, Allapalli for the construction of a gharkul. On February 6, Round Officer Maroti Gaikwad and forest workers of the Alapalli office of the FDCM seized the said tractor and called its owner to the office the next day for a compromise.
Maroti Gaikwad demanded a bribe of Rs 1.10 lakhs from the complainant. After a compromise, it was decided to pay Rs.1 lakh. The Round Officer accepted Rs. 83,000 after imposing a fine of Rs. 17,000. However, since the complainant did not want to pay the bribe at all, he had already complained to the ACB. On February 8, around noon, the ACB team caught Maroti Gaikwad red-handed while accepting the bribe at the Allapalli forest range office and detained him.
This action was taken by Gadchiroli ACB DYSP Chandrashekhar Dhole, Police Inspectors Shivaji Rathod, Santosh Patil, ASI Sunil Peddiwar, Havaldar Kishor Janjadkar, Shankar Dange, Police Amaldar Sandeep Udan, Sandeep Ghodmare. An offence has been registered with Aheri Police Station under the relevant sections.
