The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday recovered cash worth ₹3.4 crore from the residence of Mumbai’s Aarey milk residential colony’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who has been arrested in a bribery case.
The CEO, Nathu Vitthal Rathod, along with a security guard at the colony, Arvind Tiwari, have been accused of demanding a bribe of ₹50,000. They were arrested by ACB officials on Monday.
A search was conducted by the agency at Rathod’s place earlier today which resulted in the recovery of ₹3.46 crore in cash.
According to officials, the complainant had approached Rathod seeking permission for repairing his house which is inside the Aarey Colony limits in suburban Goregaon. However, Rathod asked the man to meet Tiwari instead, who then demanded ₹50,000 as a bribe to facilitate the permission for the repair works.
It was then that the complainant reached out to the ACB, which then laid a trap at the CEO’s office and nabbed Tiwari red-handed while accepting the bribe.
Rathod was apprehended later and the duo has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Rathod holds the additional charge of Deputy Commissioner (Administration) at the Worli Milk Dairy, the ACB said.
The Aarey colony is located within the eco-sensitive zone of Sanjay Gandhi National Park and is also known as Mumbai’s green lung, being one of the last few green patches left in the metropolis.
Surjitt Sahani
