No chai pani

Don't let this anti-corruption crusader catch you on the wrong note
Fifty-year-old Ashok Patel doesn't give the impression of being an activist.
Instead, he is every bit a businessman. The president of the 500-member
strong Fort Merchants Association, he is candid, brief and quick with his
decisions. It's these qualities that see him play big brother to his
trader-members and also play hawk eye to any corrupt goings-on. To that end,
Patel not just raises a voice against the unscrupulous, he also gets the
corrupt officials booked. So far, Patel has been instrumental in booking
nearly 37 officials, belonging to various governmental departments, under
the Prevention Of Corruption Act. He personally has been a complainant in 26
of these cases. It all started when local Shiv Sena leader Baban Sethe was
booked for extortion in 1990. "When I do not commit any wrong, why should I
fear anybody?" he asserts. His latest catch has been an Income-Tax officer,
Anil Kumar at Aaykar Bhavan, the head office of the department in Mumbai on
October 18. "When I am confronted with a corrupt government employee, I just
pretend to be a meek businessman who would play into their hands. One has to
think on his feet, and not give away the official any room for suspicion,
until a trap organised by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is put into
play," he says. To strengthen his case, Patel also records the telephone
conversations with the corrupt government officials. "In 2001, a person
claiming to be an I-T officer called me, seeking monetary help for a
colleague's family," he recalled. But when the police nabbed the person, he
turned out to be a conman. The call was a ploy by the man, Shantilal
Agarwal, and his partner-in-crime, Mansukh Parmar through which they
similarly duped several traders in Fort area. Since then, Patel also
collects documentary evidence by recording conversations. "I have realised
that people are complacent enough to not learn lessons from another's
mistakes or they just don't read the newspapers. A year after two conmen
were booked for being imposters, another conman adopted the same modus
operandi in extorting money from the traders," says a livid Patel. Again it
was he who came to the rescue of the traders and the bogus I-T officer was
put behind bars. He recollects his greatest catch so far-a western railway
vigilance officer who was trying to seek money from a booking agent, one of
the traders in the association. A search at the residence of the officer
revealed assets worth Rs 65 lakh. Patel's crusade against corruption is also
rewarding him handsomely. He claims that so far the government has issued
him rewards worth Rs 75 lakh. "Of course, I don't do this for the money. The
rewards are a by-product of my campaign against corruption," says Patel.
Besides, he also engages in other social causes such as organising blood
donation camps and gathering relief materials when disasters strike.
Publication : IE; Section : The Real Page; Pg : 3; Date: 13/11/06


URL : http://in.news.yahoo.com/061112/48/69ba8.html