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CBI sleuths arrest divisional revenue commissioner Anil Ramod in ₹8L bribery case, recover ₹6 cr cash
The CBI's Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested additional divisional revenue commissioner Anil Ramod for accepting ?8 lakh bribe from a complainant to clear a land-related file. The accused will be produced before Shivajinagar court on Saturday.
PUNE The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested additional divisional revenue commissioner Anil Ramod from his Vidhan Bhavan office for demanding and accepting ₹8 lakh bribe from the complainant to clear a land-related file.
The top revenue official was nabbed after the authorities laid a trap to catch him red-handed while accepting the bribe money. Searches were conducted at the office and residential premises of the accused which led to the recovery of incriminating documents relating to property including cash estimated to be worth ₹6 crore.
A video of CBI sleuths taking Ramod into custody from his office had gone viral on social media where plain-clothed CBI team members led by a woman police officer were seen whisking away the top revenue department officer to their headquarters for interrogation.
A team of over a dozen CBI officials had simultaneously raided his Baner-based private residence, Queens Garden-based office and government residence at 1 pm in connection with a corruption case.
According to the police, some bank officials including two currency note-counting machines were brought to the spot to assist the sleuths during the raid.
The CBI in its statement said that a case was registered on a complaint against Ramod who is also an arbitrator for Pune, Satara and Solapur Districts for NHAI. It was alleged that the complainant was looking after the land acquisition law-related cases of farmers from Satara and Solapur districts. It was further alleged that farmers from the villages were seeking higher compensation for their land and the complainant was representing their cases for getting higher compensation before the office of the additional divisional commissioner and also an arbitrator for Satara, Pune and Solapur districts, as per the National Highways Act.
The accused had allegedly kept the complainant’s case pending and when the complainant approached Ramod in this regard, he demanded an undue advantage of 10 per cent of the amount of the increased compensation. It was also alleged that the accused demanded ₹10 lakh from the complainant for the increased compensation of around ₹1.25 crore (approx) and finally settled for ₹8 lakh.
The arrested accused will be produced before Shivajinagar court on Saturday, said officials.
Ramod has been serving as additional divisional commissioner ( revenue department ) for the past two years and the present action has come at a time when some complaints of kickbacks and bribe demands were lodged with the top central anti-corruption agency.
