CBI nabs bureaucrat accepting bribe, recovers Rs 6 cr from house in Pune

Initially the accused had demanded Rs 10 lakh from the complainant and finally settled for Rs 8 lakh. After the complainant informed the CBI, the latter laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed accepting the bribe.

Pune:The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a senior bureaucrat accepting Rs 8 lakh as bribe on Friday in Pune. Also, it seized Rs 6 crore cash after raiding his residential and official premises. The accused will be produced before court today.

A case has been registered in this regard against the IAS officer Anil Ramod, who is posted as additional revenue divisional commissioner. On the basis of the complainant's information, CBI had laid a trap for Ramod and caught him red-handed demanding and accepting the bribe. After arresting Ramod yesterday afternoon, the CBI raided three locations, including his revenue department's office along with his government accommodation and private residence of 'Rituparna' society in Baner. During which, CBI recovered Rs 6 crore cash as well as documents of 14 immovable properties in his and his family members' name and details of bank account and other investments.

Hailing from Nanded, Ramod is serving as additional divisional commissioner in Pune division for the last two years. A CBI release stated that Ramod has been arrested while taking bribe in a land acquisition case. Also, Ramod is the arbitrator for Pune, Satara and Solapur districts for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the release said.

According to officials, the complainant represented some farmers from western Maharashtra's Satara and Solapur districts who were seeking higher compensation for their land, which the government had acquired for highway projects. The complainant had approached the additional divisional commissioner in this regard. It has been alleged that Ramod initially demanded Rs 10 lakh from the complainant for the increased compensation of around 1.25 crore and finally settled for Rs 8 lakh.

After this, the complainant approached the CBI which laid a trap for Ramod and caught him red-handed. Ramod will be produced before the Shivajinagar court on Saturday, officials said.