Nagpur, May 4 (PTI) The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has caught three government officials for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 50 lakh from a contractor for clearing his pending bills in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, an official said on Wednesday.

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A team of the ACB caught three senior officials of the soil and water conservation department — Kavijeet Patil, executive engineer, Nagpur, Shravan Shende, sub-divisional water conservation officer and Rohit Gautam, divisional accounts officer, Chandrapur, he said.

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The ACB caught Shende while he accepted Rs 50 lakh cash allegedly on behalf of Patil and Gautam at the department's office in Brahmapuri, the official said.

The complainant, who is a contractor-cum-engineer, was awarded the contract to conduct a survey of weirs in Nagpur, Wardha, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts and he completed the task on April 18 and was to get over Rs 66.8 lakh for the work he did in Nagpur and Wardha districts, he said.

Similarly, the complainant was to get Rs 1.26 crore for the work completed by his firm in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts. The department had sanctioned and released 40 per cent amount for the work he had done in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli and 40 per cent for the task in Nagpur and Wardha districts, the official said.

The three accused officials had demanded over Rs 80 lakh to clear the pending bills, he said.

An offence under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the trio at Brahmapuri police station and searches are being conducted at their homes in Nagpur and Chandrapur, the official added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)