ACB finds Rs 1.32 cr, 57 tola gold ornaments from forest officer’s house booked for bribe demand

Palghar, Dec 25 (PTI) The ACB found over Rs 1.31 crore cash in the house of a Maharashtra forest department official booked for allegedly demanding Rs 20 lakh bribe from a villager to get back his land, an official said on Wednesday.

A team of the Anti-Corruption Bureau also found gold ornaments of 57 tolas and documents of two flats during the search conducted at the forest officer Sandeep Choure’s house on Tuesday evening, said the ACB DYSP, Palghar.

Officials of ACB found Rs 1,31,96,000 cash from Choure’s house, gold ornaments of 57 tolas, and documents relating to a 584 sq feet flat in Khandala, Beed, and another flat in Karanjade of Navi Mumbai, the ACB stated in a release.

A service pistol and six live cartridges were also recovered during the search.

ACB officials seized a car belonging to another accused in the bribe demand case, Chandrakant Patil.

An FIR was registered against Choure, the Forest Circle Officer, Mandvi range, and two persons in Palghar district on Tuesday for allegedly demanding a Rs 20 lakh bribe for helping a villager get back his land taken over in 2005 by SGNP (Sanjay Gandhi National Park) authorities.

Two private persons negotiated with the complainant and negotiated the bribe demand to Rs 10 lakh, and agreed to accept the money, the ACB had stated.

The trio allegedly came to Evershine city in Vasai on December 13 but didn’t collect the money. The ACB lodged an FIR at Mandvi police station on Monday under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

No arrest has been made so far.