MIDC official held for accepting Rs 1 crore bribe

A Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) official has been arrested for allegedly demanding and accepting a Rs 1 crore bribe for releasing the pending payment of a contractor in Ahmednagar, a senior Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officer said here on Saturday. The accused, Amit Kishore Gaikwad (32), Assistant Engineer, MIDC (Ahmednagar) had allegedly demanded money from the contractor to sanction the final bill worth Rs 2,66,99,244 for a pipeline work done in Ahmednagar MIDC.

According to the Anti-Corruption Bureau officials, Gaikwad had demanded a bribe from the contractor for himself and the then Sub-Divisional Engineer (SDE), MIDC, Ahmednagar sub-division, for clearing back-dated outward (bill) and obtaining the signature of the then SDE.“Amit Gaikwad was arrested when he was accepting the bribe from the contractor in the latter’s vehicle near Ahmednagar-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar bypass road (180 km from here) on November 3,” Additional Director General, ACB, (Mumbai) said Vishwas Nangre Patil said in a press conference here.A case has been registered with the MIDC police station, Ahmednagar, and the search is for the then SDE, currently posted as executive engineer, Dhule, he said.