Pune forest guard held taking Rs 6,000 bribe to allow soil filling on farm

A team of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Pune, caught a forest guard red-handed while accepting a bribe. He is alleged to have demanded Rs 10,000 by threatening action, in return for letting soil filling continue on a farm. The forest guard has been identified as Zaheer Siraj Shaikh, 47.

The trap was laid on Sunday (the 25th) afternoon at Hotel Shivkrupa in Malegaon. Shaikh was caught while taking Rs 6,000 from the complainant. The action has brought the issue of bribery in the Forest Department back into discussion.

According to the ACB, the complainant owns four hectares of agricultural land at Korhale Khurd. Rain had washed the soil of the field into the Nira river, so the complainant had begun putting soil from the riverbed onto the field. On September 26, forest guard Shaikh had the work stopped.

Shaikh is alleged to have said that the site belonged to the Forest Department and to have threatened action. According to the complaint, he demanded a total of Rs 10,000 as a bribe for himself and for a colleague, Bhumre Madam, to let the filling continue.

The complainant said that Rs 4,000 of the Rs 10,000 demanded was taken on September 26 itself. The filling would be allowed to continue only after the remaining Rs 6,000 was paid. The complainant then approached the ACB in Pune.

The ACB said the demand was verified in the presence of independent witnesses on October 23. During that verification, it emerged that Shaikh admitted taking the first Rs 4,000 and demanded the remaining Rs 6,000.

On Sunday, the ACB team laid a trap at Hotel Shivkrupa in Malegaon. Forest guard Shaikh was caught red-handed at 2.17 pm while taking Rs 6,000 from the complainant. The ACB said a case is being registered at Malegaon police station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The action was led by Police Inspector Santosh Patil under the supervision of Deputy Superintendent of Police Satish Walke.

The ACB has appealed to the public to complain to the Anti-Corruption Bureau if any officer or employee demands a bribe for government work. It said people coming forward to file complaints is necessary to curb bribery in government offices.