ACB nets Nagalwadi Range Forester Mahesh Shinde for accepting bribe from guard
   Date :04-Apr-2020

ACB_1  H x W: 0
 
 
Staff Reporter :
 
The officer was accepting a bribe of Rs 2,500 from te forest guard for releasing house building advance of Rs 15 lakh to him 
 
ANTI-CORRUPTION Bureau (ACB) sleuths on Friday caught Mahesh Keshavrao Shinde, Forester, Wildlife Division, Nagalwadi (Saoner) Range, red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 2500 from a forest guard for releasing house building advance to him. The complainant, who is a forester attached to the office of Range Forest Officer (RFO), Pench Tiger Reserve, Nagalwadi, had applied for house building advance of Rs 15 lakh at the office of Deputy Conservator of Forests, Nagpur in 2017. After two years, the advance was sanctioned and Rs 15 lakh was deposited in the he account of Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Nagpur.
 
In January this year, the amount was transferred to the official account of RFO (Nagalwadi) Vijay Kadam for disbursement. Due to some technical issues, the amount was reverted to the account of Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. Shinde (56) then contacted the forester and demanded Rs 2500 as commission for getting the house building advance released. Fed-up of the harassment, the forester lodged a complaint with ACB officers. After verification of the complaint, the bureau officers laid a trap and caught Shinde red-handed when he accepted Rs 2500 cash from the forester.
 
Bureau officers registered an offence under relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Act against Shinde at Parseoni Police Station. The trap was laid by Police Inspector Dinesh Labde and his team under the supervision of Superintendent of Police (ACB) Rashmi Nandedkar and Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Duddhalwar.