Raigad unit of anti-corruption bureau has registered offence of possessing assets disproportionate to the known sources of income against four persons, including three officials of the town planning (TP) department.
DSP (ACB) Sunil Kalgutkar said a resident of Panvel had filed a complaint last August that officials from the TP department were demanding Rs. 3.5 lakh for a building permission and non-agricultural use permit.
ACB probe revealed that assistant director Disha Sawant, town planner Raju Pandit, and assistant town planner Tulsidas Rathod had made asked for bribe.
Further, Ramkrishna Hallale, Roopesh Gharat, Vijay Mhatre, Pradeep Mane, and Mahesh Tike, who worked as agents, told the complainant that if he paid Rs. 4.28 lakh, they would get his work done.
During the probe, the ACB officials discovered that Sawant had assets worth Rs. 1 crore 58 lakh, Pandit had assets worth Rs. 1 crore four lakh and Rathod had assets worth Rs. 38 lakh.
They could not explain the source of income, and hence offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act were filed against Sawant, her husband Prabhakar Sawant, Raju Pandit and Tulsidas Rathod. Nobody has been arrested yet.
