3 members of Centre-appointed team held for taking bribe

Three members of a Central- government appointed committee were arrested here by Anti- Corruption Bureau sleuths while they were allegedly accepting Rs 1.70 lakh as bribe by a civic official to give a positive feedback to the city for 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' works.
The team members were in the city since Friday to inspect works related to sanitation carried out by Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) under the Centre's flagship programme and file a report to Quality Council of India, Superintendent of Police, ACB, Shrikant Paropkari said today.
"The team was supposed to give marks out of 2000. After conducting inspection for two days, they demanded a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh from AMC officer Jayashree Kulkarni to file a positive report," the SP said.

Kulkarni, who is co-ordinator of Swach Maharashtra Abhiyaan, after negotiations locked the deal at Rs 1.70 lakh as she was threatened by the accused that AMC would be given negative rating.
She later brought the matter to the notice of AMC Commissioner and also filed a complaint with the ACB sleuths against the trio.
A trap was laid at a city hotel yesterday and the three persons were held as soon as they accepted the bribe, the senior officer said.
The accused were identified as Shailesh Purushottam Bajania, Vijay Joshi and Govind Ghimare, all residents of Gujarat, he said, adding that a case had been registered with Cidco Police station in this regard.