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Mumbai: The state anti-corruption bureau (ACB) has arrested Ajitkumar Saswade, 57, a deputy commissioner in the ministry of textiles, for demanding a bribe of ₹30 lakh and accepting an installment of ₹15 lakh on Wednesday.
According to the bureau, the complainant agreed to the pay-off to become a member of the Pucca Rang Saree Cooperative Association, in Malegaon. After his appeal for membership was rejected by district level officers he knocked at the door of the deputy commissioner, in Mumbai.
When he faced a delay in the Mumbai office, he went to the Bombay high court to lodge a complaint against the deputy commissioner. The court issued directive to the official that his appeal be heard before February 4, 2023.
That’s when Saswade demanded the bribe to grant the membership, following which the complainant approached the state ACB and registered a complaint on January 31. The bureau laid a trap – it was decided that the complainant would pay the first installment to Saswade on February 1, and the ACB would nab the erring officer red-handed. The plan worked and Saswade was arrested from a place close to his office in Masjid Bunder.
Saswade lives in the government colony in Bandra. He was earlier posted in the Thane unit of Slum Rehabiliation Authority. A senior officer of the cooperation admitted to rampant corruption in the organisation and that the new cooperation minister Atul Save was informed about gangs involved in wheeling-dealing to dole out plum postings and make a fast buck.
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