Mumbai: Anti Corruption Bureau has arrested the middleman of the revenue officer who demanded a bribe of Rs 8 lakh from a Thane company. Meanwhile, the revenue officer fled but his middleman was caught taking a bribe of Rs 2 lakh, an official said on Friday.
Recently the company owners purchased five acres of land in Shenve village of Shahpur taluka of Thane. ACB Deputy Commissioner of Police Harshal Chavan said, Talati (revenue officer) Dnyaneshwar Devidas Shisode was given an application to update his details in the government records.
However, Dnyaneshwar demanded Rs 8 lakh through middleman Ashok Dattatre Varkhute (A.V. 62) for getting the work done. The matter was complained to ACB. Based on the complaint, the ACB team laid a trap and on Thursday Varkute was caught carrying a bag containing Rs 2 lakh and a bundle of dummy notes.
However, when the revenue officer got information about ACB's action, he ran away. Efforts are being made to search for absconding Dnyaneshwar.