FDA clerk caught at Mantralaya by ACB accepting bribe of Rs 35,000

Mumbai: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) caught red handed a clerk working in the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while allegedly accepting a Rs 35,000 bribe at the state secretariat, Mantralaya. The ACB official confirmed this development on Friday.

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal claimed that the clerk Rajendra Dherange was arrested in a Cabinet minister’s office, and the incident highlighted what he called “rampant corruption” under the BJP-led government.

However, the ACB official clarified that the clerk, Rajendra Dherange, was caught while taking a bribe at the FDA office on the second floor of the Mantralaya.

The clerk had allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 from a complainant who wanted his medical licence to be restored, the official said. After the complainant approached the ACB, a trap was laid, and Dherange was apprehended while accepting Rs 35,000 as part payment inside his office on Thursday evening, said the official.

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A case was registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and a probe was on, the official said.

Sapkal demanded that the Chief Minister should take serious note and remove the bribe taking minister.

“Shocking information has come to light that the ACB has laid a trap in the office of a Cabinet Minister in the Mantralaya and taken a corrupt officer into custody. Once again, it has become clear that open bribery and commission-taking is rampant in the Mantralaya during the tenure of the highly corrupt Mahayuti government.

“A situation has arisen where the people’s work does not get done without money — this is an extremely serious matter. The Chief Minister should take note of the related case, inform the public, and remove the bribe-taking minister from the post,” he said.