Police HQ official sent to jail for taking bribe from cop

A court here Saturday awarded four years' imprisonment to an official posted at the Maharashtra Police's headquarters for accepting a bribe to clear the housing loan proposal of a constable.

Additional Sessions Judge Ashutosh Bhagwat also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Baliram Shinde, the accused, after convicting him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Additional Public Prosecutor J V Desai said police constable Santosh Bhoite had applied for a housing loan and the file was lying with the office of the Director General of Police (DGP) for one year.

Shinde, an office superintendent at the DGP office, demanded Rs 22,000 to clear the file. He eventually settled for Rs 10,000.

The constable, in the meantime, approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau. A trap was laid and Shinde was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 10,000 at CSMT railway station here on October 21, 2014.

Nine witnesses were examined during the trial, Desai said.