Maha: Agri officer arrested for taking bribe in Palghar

An agriculture officer has been arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 7,000 in Maharashtra's Palghar district, an official from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said on Wednesday.

Based on a complaint, the ACB laid a trap on Tuesday and caught Santosh Pawar, the taluka agricultural officer at Dahanu, while accepting the bribe amount, deputy superintendent of police (ACB – Palghar) Navnath Jagtap said.

The accused official had allegedly demanded Rs. 10,000 for not taking action against the complainant, who owns an agriculture centre, for failing to make online entries of certain sales and purchases, he said.

After negotiations, the bribe amount was brought down to Rs 7,000, he said.

A case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused, the official added.