CIDCO's woman official among 2 held in Rs 30,000 bribery case

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday arrested a senior woman official of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and a contractual worker for taking a Rs 30,000 bribe in exchange of allowing a pandal to set be up for a Ganesh idol-making unit. The arrested accused were identified as Smita Prabhakar Thakur (53), currently serving as an Area Officer posted at CIDCO's area office in Navi Mumbai's Nerul area, and Yogesh Ambaji Koli (30), a contractual worker, an official said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Dharmaraj Sonke, who is leading the investigation, said the ACB received a complaint on August 22 from a 45-year-old male secretary that Thakur and Koli were demanding Rs 50,000 for permission to erect a 30x30 ft pandal in order to create idols of Lord Ganesh in Juinagar area.

The ACB verified the complaint and found it to be true. During the probe, the ACB confirmed that the accused later agreed to accept Rs 30,000 instead of Rs 50,000, Sonke said.

Subsequently, a trap was laid this afternoon and Koli was caught taking the bribe amount outside the CIDCO office in Nerul. ''Our team, along with independent panchas, apprehended the accused and recovered the money from him,'' DYSP Sonke said. Following the arrest of Koli, Thakur was also taken into custody for her alleged involvement in the bribe demand and facilitation.

''This is a clear case of corruption, and both accused are being charged under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, specifically Sections 7 and 12. Both of them have been placed under arrest,'' Sonke said, adding that further investigation was underway.

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