Government official in ACB net

Mumbai, May 11 (UNI) An undersecretary in the Cooperative Marketing and Textiles department in the state secretariat here today was nabbed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 45,000.

A secretariat assistant has also been arrested in this connection, according to a press note issued by the ACB here.

Sandesh Chabu Tadvi, the undersecretary and secretariat assistant, Prasad Vinayak Kulkarni were arrested following a complaint lodged by a Sangli-based farmer, Subhash Sahdev Shinde.

Mr Shinde is the chairman of a Sangli-based Agricultural Produce Cooperative Organisation. The organisation had availed a loan of Rs 26.27 lakh from a district bank during 1994-95.

However, the state government on October 17, 2006, announced a decision to waive off interests on loans taken by farmers to encourage grape growers to export their produce and to enable them to set up cold storages.

Mr Shinde, accordingly, applied to the government to waive off interest on the loan taken by his organisation. He met the undersecretary on May 8 to inquire about the status of his application.

But the official allegedly demanded a sum of Rs 60,000 in order to forward the application to the finance department for the latter's approval. The amount demanded was later scaled down to Rs 45,000 and it was agreed that the amount would be paid today.

The ACB sleuths laid a trap today and nabbed the undersecretary and the assistant while allegedly accepting the amount.

UNI