Sarpanch and Gram Panchayat official arrested for accepting Rs 60,000 bribe in Palghar

A woman sarpanch and a member of a gramme panchayat were detained after they allegedly demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs 60,000 to issue a no objection certificate at a hamlet in the Palghar district of Maharashtra.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested Dashana Dattatreya Pimple, sarpanch of Pam village, and the gram panchayat's collection clerk Bhavesh Ganpat Pimple, deputy superintendent of police Palghar ACB Dayanand Gawade said. The sarpanch had allegedly demanded Rs 60,000 to issue an NOC to the complainant, who runs a security agency, he said.

The two have been charged with a violation of the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the official added. He claimed that on Thursday night at the gram panchayat office, the clerk was captured in a trap set by the ACB as he accepted the bribe money on behalf of the sarpanch.