Ahmednagar Municipal Commissioner, PA Demand Rs 8 Lakh Bribe from Builder; ACB Files FIR
Ahmednagar, 27th June 2024: A significant bribery scandal has surfaced in Ahmednagar, involving Dr Pankaj Javale, the Commissioner and Administrator of Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation, and his personal assistant, Sridhar Deshpande.
The complainant, involved in a construction business with his partners, purchased a 2260.22 square meter plot at Mauje Nalegaon within the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation limits. To proceed with building on this plot, they applied for construction permission from the Municipal Corporation Office in March.
However, Commissioner Javale demanded a bribe of Rs 9,30,000 through his personal assistant Deshpande for the necessary construction permission. Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) office in Jalna on 19 June 2024 and filed a complaint.
Subsequently, on 20 June 2024, Deshpande reduced the bribe demand to Rs 8 lakh. During the verification process, it was revealed that Commissioner Javale was actively encouraging Deshpande to demand the bribe from the complainant.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau, under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Sandeep Atole (ACB-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar range), Additional SP Mukund Aghav, and DySP Kiran Bidve, launched an investigation. The team comprised Police Inspector Shankar Mutekar, Police Constables Gajanan Ghaiwat, Shivaji Jamhadhe, Ganesh Cheke, Ganesh Bujade, Shivling Khule, Atish Tidke, Gajanan Kharat, Vitthal Kapse, and Bhalchandra Binorkar from the Jalna unit of the ACB.
The process of filing a case against Javale and Deshpande at the Tofkhana Police Station in Ahmednagar is currently underway.
