Accounts officer caught taking bribe 2 hours before retirement

A 58-year-old accounts officer in Maharashtra was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1,500 for issuing a certificate, an official said today.

The arrest was made two hours before the officer, Sadashiv Dnyandeo Satpute, was to retire yesterday, he said.

He was attached to the office of the Deputy Conservator of Forest at Kolhapur.

Satpute was arrested while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1,500 for issuing a certificate related to eco-sensitive zone from the Deputy Conservator of Forest office to a person, the official said.

Satpute initially demanded Rs 2,000 from the complainant to issue the certificate, but later settled for Rs 1,500, he said.

The complainant approached the ACB unit at Kolhapur, which laid a trap and caught the officer accepting the bribe amount, the official said.