The Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday arrested a top government official on charges of demanding and accepting a bribe.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday arrested a top government official on charges of demanding and accepting a bribe. The accused is a deputy secretary with the home department and was arrested from outside the gates of the Mantralaya.
The accused has been identified as Sanjay Dagdu Khedekar (44) had allegedly asked for a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the complainant, a police constable from Jalna. Khedekar was nabbed while allegedly accepting Rs 5,000, the first instalment of the bribe.
“The complainant’s son had been selected and recruited to the police force in 2014. But his appointment to the police department was held up due to a criminal offence registered against him,” said a official. The case was registered in 2011 but he had been acquitted and the home department had to only approve his recruitment.
The complainant had written repeatedly to the department his son had been acquitted and there was no need to hold up his appointment. “Nearly two months ago, the complainant visited Khedekar in his office and enquired about the file. It was then that Khedekar allegedly demanded Rs 20,000 to approve sending the file to higher ups,” said an officer. He added that the hassled complainant saw no other way and paid Rs 10,000 and Rs 4,000 to Khedekar.
Eventually, Khedekar demanded Rs 10,000 more and the complainant approached the ACB. Khedekar was arrested while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000.
