Pimpri Chinchwad civic body's chief engineer held by ACB for taking Rs 19,000 bribe

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, counted among the richest civic bodies in the country, has been hit by fresh bribery allegations. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has detained Chief Engineer Pramod Ombhase while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 19,000. Ombhase is accused of taking the money to sign the tender agreement of a contractor in the water supply department.

It is said to be the first time such direct action has been taken against an officer as senior as the city engineer level. The action has caused a stir in the corridors of the corporation. It has damaged the corporation's reputation across the state, and citizens and contractors are deeply angry.

The complainant contractor says that not only Ombhase but also Joint City Engineer Ajay Suryawanshi demanded a bribe for signing the agreement. Suryawanshi is named clearly in the complaint, and attention is now on whether the ACB will tighten its grip on him too.

It is openly discussed in the corporation that a "commission" is fixed at every stage, from drafting the tender proposal to clearing work bills, relaxing conditions for favoured contractors and finally issuing the work order. It is said that "files do not move forward without greasing palms". Earlier, Dilip Ade, a tracer in the water supply department, was caught taking a bribe of a full Rs 1 lakh to forward a file for issuing a work order.

The figures tell the same story. Since 17 February 1997, bribery cases have been registered against 39 officers and employees of the corporation. They included the then standing committee chairman and four of his employees. Between April 2017 and October 2026, that is, in the past nine years, 18 people have had to go to jail after being caught in ACB traps. They range from the then commissioner's personal assistant to a beat inspector, a headmaster, a surveyor and a junior engineer.

From 12 March 2022 to 6 February 2026, the corporation was under an administrator's rule. During that period there was no check from elected representatives and bribery reached its peak. In these four years, six officers and employees were caught in ACB traps. The allegation has been raised repeatedly in the corporation's general body that the fearlessness of officials has done great damage to the corporation's image.

When the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the corporation on 6 February 2026, it was expected that bribery would be curbed. But in just nine months of the new rule, three people have already been caught in ACB traps. They include a chief engineer, a civil engineering assistant and a clerk in the tax collection department.