Pune: MHADA Project Manager Arrested For Accepting Rs 2.7 Lakh Bribe In Flat Allotment Case
Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 1st June 2024: A private project manager from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) was caught red-handed by the Pune unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while accepting a bribe.
The arrest occurred at Status Family Rest-O-Bar at Parmar Chamber, Sadhu Vaswani Chowk, on the evening of May 31. The arrested project manager is Abhijit Venkatarao Jichkar, 34, a resident of Wakad.
The case began when a 60-year-old man filed a complaint with the Pune ACB office. The complainant had won a house through a MHADA lottery but was unable to pay the increased installment due to insufficient information about additional costs. To resolve this, he applied to the Pune office of MHADA for an RTGS challan to reallocate the house. During this process, he met Jichkar, the Project Manager at MHADA, who demanded a bribe of two lakh rupees for the reallocation and issuance of the RTGS challan.
Upon receiving the complaint, the ACB verified the claims and found that Jichkar had demanded a total bribe of Rs 2.2 lakh for CEO MHADA and Rs 50,000 for himself, to facilitate the reallocation and remove the RTGS invoice.
The ACB team set up a sting operation at Status Family Rest-O-Bar, where Jichkar had agreed to accept the bribe. He was caught on the spot while accepting the bribe money from the complainant. Subsequently, a case was registered against Jichkar under the Prevention of Corruption Act at Bundagarden Police Station, and he was arrested.
This operation was carried out under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Amol Tambe and Additional Superintendent of Police Dr. Sheetal Janve. Police Inspector Virnath Mane is leading the ongoing investigation.
