Pune: The Pune division’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a case against Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation senior official for allegedly demanding a bribe from a contractor to sign agreements for five water supply department tenders worth Rs 91.57 lakh.According to ACB officials, the contractor was awarded five works related to maintenance, repairs and the laying of new pipelines. He was required to sign agreements with the civic body to obtain work orders and had been following up with officials to complete the formalities.The contractor alleged that officials demanded a bribe of 0.5% of the tender value to clear the agreements. Following verification of the complaint, the ACB found that a senior official had allegedly demanded Rs 19,000, calculated at 0.5% of the Rs 38 lakh value of three tender files pending with him.A senior ACB official said the PCMC official had also admitted to accepting a similar bribe from the contractor earlier. A case was registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act at Sant Tukaram Nagar police station, and he was taken into custody for investigation.Shirish Sardeshpande, superintendent of the ACB’s Pune division, said even demanding a bribe was an offence and urged citizens to report such incidents through the bureau’s WhatsApp helpline or contact numbers.
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