The Anti-Corruption Bureau has caught a gram panchayat sarpanch, who is also director of local farm market committee, and a land developer in Nagpur district while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 3 lakh from a villager for granting permission to construct a new house, ACB officials said on Wednesday.
Mohan Jagannath Munne, sarpanch of Murti gram panchayat in Katol taluka and director of the local Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), and his associate and land developer Paresh Vaikunthrao Shelke were trapped while taking a bribe of Rs 3 lakh from the villager on Tuesday, the officials said.
According to them, the villager initially approached Munne to pay the property tax for a house belonging to his father and uncle, and sought permission to build a new home.
The sarpanch demanded Rs 5 lakh for granting permission and for tax settlement, and instructed the villager to pay Rs 1 lakh in advance to his associate Shelke. The man paid the advance, but Munne continued to harass him, demanding the remaining amount of Rs 4 lakh, the officials said.
The villager lodged a complaint with the ACB's Nagpur unit. After verification, the anti-graft agency laid a trap and apprehended Munne and Shelke while accepting Rs 3 lakh as bribe from the complainant, they said.
The duo was later placed under arrest.
The cash was seized, and a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act registered against the duo at the Katol police station, they said.
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