Special Correspondent
Pune : The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday evening caught two officers from the Sub-Registrar’s office in Dapodi red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹3,700 for handing over a bylaw booklet after the registration of a housing society. A case has been registered against them at Dapodi Police Station under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The accused have been identified as Sangeeta Kirpale-Chaudhary and Mukund Pawar, both officers at the Sub-Registrar’s office in Dapodi. The complainant resides in a registered housing society in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
According to the information provided by the ACB, the society had submitted its registration proposal to the Dapodi Sub-Registrar’s office on March 25. During the process, the accused officers demanded a bribe of ₹700 per member for processing the registration. For a total of 16 members, this amounted to ₹11,200. Of this, ₹7,500 was taken in advance, and the society was issued a registration certificate.
However, since the full bribe amount hadn’t been paid, the bylaw booklet — a statutory document outlining the rules and functioning of the society — was withheld by the officials. When the complainant later visited the office to collect the booklet, both officers allegedly demanded an additional ₹3,700.
Following this demand, the complainant approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which laid a trap at the Sub-Registrar’s office on Friday evening. Both officers were caught in the act while accepting the bribe amount and were immediately taken into custody. A case was subsequently filed against them late Friday night at Dapodi Police Station.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Shirish Sardeshpande and Additional SP Dr. Sheetal Janve. The investigation is being led by Deputy SP Neeta Misal.
