Lawyer held for accepting bribe remanded to police custody till Dec 31

A lawyer who was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1.70 crore for obtaining a favourable ruling in a land dispute case was Thursday remanded to police custody till December 31.

While seeking police custody of Shende, the prosecution told the court that the ACB wanted to probe whether the office of deputy director (land records) was involved.

"It has been revealed that the accused accepted the bribe from the complainant for obtaining a ruling in favour of the complainant so the ACB wants to probe the involvement of deputy director (land records) office in the present case," the prosecution told the court.

After hearing the argument, the additional sessions judge remanded the lawyer to the police custody till December 31.

According to an ACB official, the complainant had approached the deputy director (land records) in the revenue department claiming that some unauthorised names had been inserted on his property documents and he wanted those names removed.

"The hearing before the deputy director was pending. Shende approached the complainant and promised to influence the ruling in his favour. He demanded Rs two crore for the job," said the officer.

The complainant negotiated the amount to Rs 1.70 crore, and told the accused that he would give the money only after receiving the written order in his favour.

On Wednesday, Shende showed him the written order of the deputy director and demanded money. The complainant, in the meantime, approached the ACB.

A trap was laid Wednesday evening. A bag was filled with Rs 5 lakh on the top and pieces of blank paper below them. Shende was arrested while accepting the money, the officer said.

It was yet to be probed if the lawyer could actually influence the ruling passed by the authority, he said.

"Shende has been arrested under the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act. He will be produced before the court tomorrow," he said.