It all came to a head on Thursday when the ACB moved in on a technical expert from the Latur Municipal Council and an alleged go-between. They were acting on a tip-off that a bribe was being asked for to get a residential plot in order. Now, with a case filed at the Ahmedpur police station under the Prevention of Corruption Act, it’s hard not to see how easily authority can be put to use for the wrong kind of gain.
We were told by an ACB official that once the complaint of illegal gratification came in, they set up the operation. The two men haven’t been hauled in for arrest just yet; they’ve been handed notices under the BNSS. In the meantime, the ACB is making some house calls, searching their homes and offices.
Alleged demand exceeded official fee
The complainant’s wife is on record as the owner of the plot in question. The numbers don’t add up: the fee for the job is Rs 1.19 lakh, but the expert is said to have wanted in on Rs 1.91 lakh. On top of that, investigators found an initial sum had already been put in their pocket via the middleman.
For clarity, here are the key figures cited by the ACB:
– Alleged demand: Rs 1.91 lakh
– Official fee: Rs 1.19 lakh
– Amount taken via agent: Rs 30,000
Who is under scrutiny
The man in the dock is SB Solapure, a city-level technical expert for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The agency says he was after more than the going rate. Through his agent, the ACB has it that they took Rs 30,000 from the complainant. That agent is part of the case too.
Why this matters
When you’re an applicant, you want to know the rules and the cost. An official asking for over and above that erodes any faith you have in the system. By springing this trap and starting these searches, the ACB is making it known they are watching how these things are done.
What comes next
What happens next will be up to what they find in the course of their probe. For now, both have been served their papers under the BNSS and the matter will be built on the evidence they have so far.
