Maha: BJP corporator gets 5-yr RI in bribery case

A BJP corporator was on Wednesday sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment by a court here in Maharashtra for taking bribe in 2014. District Judge (special Anti-Corruption Bureau cases) P P Jadhav pronounced Varsha Bhanushali, the corporator in the BJP-ruled Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) of Thane district, guilty under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs five lakh on her, additional public prosecutor Vivek Kadu said. On June 6, 2014, Bhanushali, who then represented ward 14-B of the MBMC, demanded Rs 1.6 lakh from a shopkeeper to arrange permission to increase the height of his shop.

It was agreed that he would pay Rs 50,000 as the first installment. The aggrieved shopkeeper approached the Anti- Corruption Bureau, which laid a trap and caught Bhanushali while accepting Rs 50,000, the prosecution told the court..