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Fire officer, aide arrested after being caught accepting bribe of Rs. 2 lakh in Bhavnagar
The Gujarat Anti Corruption Bureau stated that the accused had demanded Rs. 5 lakh from a sub contractor.
The ACB on Monday said it arrested Maheshkumar Amrit Patel, Deputy Regional Fire Officer, Class-II, Gujarat State Fire Prevention Services, Bhavnagar Region, and Prakash Girish Chauhan, a private citizen and resident of Bhavnagar. (File Photo)
As the country was paying tributes to firefighters who lost their lives in a 1944 Mumbai dockyard explosion during National Fire Service Week (April 14-20), the Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), on Monday, arrested a Class-2 officer of the Gujarat State Fire Prevention Service (GSFPS) and a middleman. The accused allegedly sought a bribe of Rs 5 lakh and accepted Rs 2 lakh from a sub-contractor to issue Fire Safety Certificates (FSCs) to schools in Bhavnagar district.
The ACB on Monday said it arrested Maheshkumar Amrit Patel, Deputy Regional Fire Officer, Class-II, Gujarat State Fire Prevention Services, Bhavnagar Region, and Prakash Girish Chauhan, a private citizen and resident of Bhavnagar.
According to the ACB, “The complainant in this case had a sub-contract for installation of fire safety related equipment in different government school buildings in several talukas of Bhavnagar district and completed the installation of fire safety related equipment in 79 government schools and filed online applications to the Deputy Regional Fire Officer to get approval for the fire safety plan and fire safety certificates.”
The statement further said, “In lieu of the approved and pending applications, the Deputy RFO Mahesh Kumar Patel sought a bribe of Rs 5 lakh, Rs. 50,000 of which the complainant had already paid to Prakash Chauhan. Since the complainant didn’t want to pay the rest of the bribe, he filed a complaint with the ACB.’’
The ACB said it set a trap led by Police Inspector RN Virani of ACB Anand, outside Gate No. 2 of Sir Takhtasinhji Civil Hospital in Bhavnagar, where Chauhan was caught accepting a bribe of Rs. 2 Lakh.
Meanwhile, the main accused, Deputy RFO Maheshkumar Patel was found in his office and placed under arrest for abuse of power and criminal misconduct, according to the ACB. Further investigation is underway.
Patel is still a probationary officer of the GSFPS, one of five hired in the very first recruitment for the cadre in late 2024.
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