Range forest officer held for taking Rs 11 lakh bribe

A range forest officer was today arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 11 lakh from an officer of a leading educational institute here to release its seized construction equipment, the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) said.
The range forest officer was identified as Vilas Nikam (49), the anti-graft agency said.
According to an ACB official, Sinhgad Technical Institute had purchased a piece of land near Lonavala. However, the forest department had objected to the portion of land, after which the institute filed a petition in the Bombay High Court.
"The forest department had registered a case against the institute for carrying out construction activity in the disputed land and seized the construction equipment such as backhoe loader and other vehicles," an ACB official said.

The accused allegedly sought Rs 11 lakh from the administrative officer of the institute to release the loader and other vehicles and to allow construction work in the disputed land.
The complainant then approached the ACB and registered a case against Nikam and subsequently a trap was laid tonight and he was arrested while accepting the bribe amount.