Mumbai: ACB Nabs MHADA Official with Rs 60,000 Bribe from Housing Scheme Applicants

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered an FIR and arrested a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) executive engineer along with two private individuals on bribery charges. The ACB recovered ₹60,000 in cash, which was allegedly taken as a bribe for the engineer. The amount was part of a larger sum collected from ten people under the Abhay Yojana for housing allotment. The accused had initially demanded ₹6.6 lakh, but was caught red-handed while accepting ₹60,000 in cash.

According to the information received, ten applicants from the Borivali division had applied for homes under the Slum Rehabilitation Abhay Yojana. To facilitate their allotment, government officer Dinesh Sridhar Shrestha, an executive engineer, allegedly demanded ₹60,000 per applicant. In total, he sought ₹6.6 lakh from all ten applicants.

For the collection of the first installment of ₹60,000, the officer sent a contractor named Sanjay Trivedi. Trivedi received the cash and passed it on to an auto-rickshaw driver, Rajkumar Yadav. Acting on a tip-off, ACB officials laid a trap and arrested the MHADA executive engineer along with the contractor and the auto driver.

The ACB has launched a detailed investigation into the case. Officials have already taken the executive engineer into custody and further raids are expected in the coming days. Authorities believe that crucial documents may be recovered during the probe, which could expose more irregularities in the scheme.