Pune: The state anti-corruption bureau (ACB), Pune, arrested a controller attached to the MSRTC’s Baramati MIDC depot on Thursday while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 4 lakh from a contractor to facilitate the payment of his bills.The ACB team, led by inspector Santosh Patil, laid a trap near the Baramati MSRTC bus stand and caught the accused, Anil Bankar (51), while he was accepting the bribe.An officer from the ACB said Bankar is the controller of the MSRTC’s Baramati MIDC depot and also a director of the ST Cooperative Bank Limited. The complainant had recently completed furniture renovation work at the bank’s Baramati branch. The total value of the work was Rs 48.60 lakh. Of this, the complainant had already received Rs 40 lakh. The remaining Rs 8.60 lakh, along with Rs 4.98 lakh for additional work, was pending.“The bank’s head office had sanctioned the payment of Rs 8.60 lakh, and the pay order was ready. However, Bankar allegedly demanded Rs 4 lakh from the complainant to facilitate its deposit. He also demanded another Rs 2 lakh to release the pending bill of Rs 4.98 lakh and refund the contractor’s security deposit of Rs 5 lakh,” the officer said.He added that the complainant agreed to pay Rs 4 lakh initially and the remaining Rs 2 lakh after receiving the payment. “After verifying the bribe demand through the complaint, we laid a trap and caught Bankar while he was accepting Rs 4 lakh inside his car near the bus stand,” the officer said.A case has been registered against Bankar with the Baramati City police.
