Deputy secretary of Maha home dept arrested for taking Rs5,000 bribe
Sanjay Dagdu Khedekar, 44, deputy secretary, home department, was arrested based on a complaint filed by a police constable from Jalna
The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested a top official from the state home department while allegedly accepting Rs5,000 bribe near the gate of the state secretariat.
Sanjay Dagdu Khedekar, 44, deputy secretary, home department, was arrested based on a complaint filed by a police constable from Jalna.
“The complainant’s son was recruited to the police force in 2014, but is yet to be appointed. He was booked in a case at the Kadim Jalna police station under IPC section 325 (punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt) in 2011. After his acquittal, his father started following up with the home department for his recruitment,” said an ACB officer.
“The file was pending with Khedekar. Around two months ago, when the complainant met Khedekar, he demanded Rs20,000 to move the file ahead. The complainant paid Rs14,000 to him,” said the officer.
On Wednesday, when the complainant met Khedekar at Mantralaya, he demanded an additional bribe of Rs10,000, after which he approached the ACB.
“We laid the case after which a trap was laid outside Mantralaya,” said the officer.
Khedekar will be produced before a local court on Friday.
“We did not expect such a high-ranking officer will accept bribe. This has happened even as we are investigating the revenue department case,” said a high-ranking ACB officer.
The trap, which comes in the backdrop of the alleged bribe demand of Rs30 crore made by a man claiming to be associated with the state revenue department headed by Eknath Khadse, surprised the ACB officials too.
The corruption controversy involving two prominent departments — revenue and home — may be a cause for concern for the chief minister, who had himself arranged a trap on an officer from the law and judiciary department of Mantralaya in April last year.
The home department is headed by the CM.