Mumbai: Assistant labour commissioner, clerk arrested while taking bribe

According to ACB officials, the duo had allegedly demanded Rs25,000 each from the complainant to process his application. The complainant approached ACB and lodged a complaint

Anti-corruption bureau (ACB) officials have arrested an assistant labour commissioner and a clerk here in Mumbai while allegedly accepting bribe from a commercial artist who had applied for registration of an artist’s association. The two had demanded a bribe of Rs25,000 each to process his application.

Representational Image.

The accused have been identified as Anand Dhanaji Bhosale, 40, and Tanaji Gyanoba Salunkhe, 48. Bhosale is an assistant labour commissioner and deputy registrar of Konkan region at the office of Labour Commissioner, Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), while Salunkhe is a senior clerk in the same office.

The complainant is a commercial sculptor and had applied for the registration of sculptors’ association, ‘Shri Ganesh Murtikar Kamgar Sanghatna (Maharashtra State)’.

According to ACB officials, Bhosale and Salunkhe had allegedly demanded Rs25,000 each from the complainant to process his application. The sculptor then approached ACB and lodged a complaint.

After due verification on Wednesday, ACB laid a trap and arrested Bhosale and Salunkhe while accepting Rs15,000 and Rs 5,000 bribe respectively.

Both have been charged under relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. The ACB investigators will now scrutinise the bank accounts of the accused and will also search their premises to check if they have amassed properties from bribes in the past.