Jalgaon Zilla Parishad official held taking Rs 10,000 bribe; assets worth over Rs 5 crore found

An official of the Jalgaon Zilla Parishad has been arrested for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 10,000, and searches that followed turned up assets worth more than Rs 5 crore.

The arrested official is Satish Mansulal Sisode, sub-divisional officer in the construction department of the Jalgaon Zilla Parishad. He is alleged to have demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 to clear the bill for a Rs 10 lakh road work.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) laid a trap in the case. Sisode was caught red-handed accepting the Rs 10,000 bribe and was arrested.

After the arrest, the ACB team searched Sisode's home and bank locker closely. The searches turned up assets worth a total of Rs 5 crore 16 lakh 88 thousand 389. These include two houses in Adarsh Nagar. Cash of Rs 7 lakh 97 thousand was also seized.

A search of the bank locker also yielded a large haul. Gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 3 crore 74 lakh was recovered from the locker, including 2,524 grams of gold, 11,633 grams of silver and 101 grams of platinum jewellery.

The ACB is now investigating in depth how such a large amount of unaccounted wealth was accumulated. The inquiry will establish how the assets were amassed.