Land official caught taking 'ream of blank papers' as bribe

An official of land records department was allegedly caught accepting a ream of blank papers as bribe in Nashik district of Maharashtra, police said Saturday.

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) took this action at Yeola town in Nashik on Friday, the police said.

The official, Muralidhar Thackarey (51), deputy superintendent of land records department, was caught red-handed while accepting the paper ream, a police official said.

"Thackarey demanded a ream of blank papers for printout from the 36-year-old complainant, who had sought a document related to his land," he said.

Thackarey asked the complainant to pay the official fees for the document. Thereafter, since no blank papers were available in his office, he asked the complainant to buy a ream of papers for the printout, he said.

The complainant then approached the Nashik unit of the ACB, which laid a trap and Thackarey was caught accepting the paper ream, he said.