Two CIDCO officials among three held for Rs 2.50 lakh bribe

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Three persons, including two officials of state-owned city planning agency CIDCO, have been arrested in a Rs 2.50 lakh bribery case, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said Tuesday.

Vikas Khadse and Pritamsingh Rajput, both officials of CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd), and one Pradip Patil were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Deputy Superintendent of Police (ACB-Navi Mumbai unit) Ramesh Chavan said in a release.

They were arrested Monday after a man, who is into real estate business, filed a bribery complaint with the Navi Mumbai unit of the ACB, the release said.

Khadse (52) and Rajput (39) had allegedly sought a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from the complainant for not demolishing an "illegal" structure, ad measuring 2,178 sq ft, built by his associate on a piece of land in Navi Mumbai, it said.

The complainant was in the business of purchasing lands in Thane and Navi Mumbai and developing them.

Khadse was a surveyor in the office of controller of unauthorised construction at CIDCO, while Rajput, a development officer, his senior in the same department, the release said.

After negotiations the bribe amount was brought down to Rs 8 lakh, which the complainant agreed to pay to the two CIDCO officials in instalments, it said.

At the same time he approached the ACB, which laid a trap and caught Patil, who works as a waiter at CIDCO canteen, accepting the first instalment of Rs 2.50 lakh on behalf of the two officials, the release said.

A further probe is underway, it added.