Thane civic officer demands Rs 1.34 lakh bribe from contractor, case filed

A case has been registered against an official of a civic body in Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 1.34 lakh from a contractor, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said on Friday.

The ACB's Mumbai unit on Thursday registered a case against Vikas Chavan (52), a class-I audit officer of the Kulgaon-Badlapur Municipal Council, an official said.

As per the complaint, a road construction company had been awarded 77 development works by the civic body through tenders.

The accused officer had cleared payments worth Rs 17.44 lakh for completed work and also refunded a security deposit of Rs 4.99 lakh, but he allegedly demanded six per cent of this amount as a bribe, which came to Rs 1.34 lakh, it stated.

The contractor approached the ACB in December last year, and following a probe, a case has been registered, the official said.

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