Officer, cop in ACB net

Mumbai: A deputy registrar of the fisheries department was caught redhanded
by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday while accepting a bribe of Rs
10,000 from a member of the Maharashtra State Fishermen's Cooperative
Society (MSFCS).

    The accused, identified as Milind Bhalerao, is a Class I officer working
at Taraporewala Aquarium at Marine Drive. According to the ACB, the society
president Ramesh Bari had gone to meet Bhalerao on January 15 to discuss the
appointment of a new member of the MSFCS. The deputy registrar is required
to clear any appointment in the MSFCS, but Bhalerao demanded Rs 1 lakh to
settle a few pending cases against the MSFCS and also approve the new
appointment.

    Following a complaint filed by Bari, the ACB laid a trap and nabbed
Bhalerao while accepting Rs 10,000-the first installment of the bribe.
Bhalerao will be produced before the ACB court on Wednesday.

Mumbai: A policeman from N M Joshi Marg was caught red-handed while
accepting a bribe of Rs 2,500 from a resident of Kalachowky to clear his
passport verification on Tuesday. According to the police, Pandurang Sutar
had applied for a passport for which the N M Joshi Marg police station had
asked him to furnish relevant details to carry out the verification.

    When Sutar visited the police station and asked them to speed up the
procedure, constable Narayan Rane had demanded Rs 5,000. Sutar then told him
that he could not afford to pay such a large amount. So Rane agreed to
accept Rs 2,500. Sutar then approached the ACB which caught Rane red-handed
while accepting the bribe. Policemen in-charge of the passport verification
process at police stations are known to demand sums anywhere between Rs 100
to Rs 1,000 from applicants. Interestingly, the Union government has passed
an order which says the police will no more need to carry out a verification
and that the entire process will be carried out by Regional Passport
Offices. The order has not yet come into effect though.

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