Man held for accepting Rs 30,000 bribe to help secure fire NOC from Rajkot civic body
Rajkot (PTI): A man has been arrested for allegedly accepting a Rs 30,000 bribe to get a fire NOC from the Rajkot civic body for a structure being erected for a property expo, officials said on Saturday.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau laid a trap and detained accused Kaushik Piprotar, a sales executive with a firm selling mechanical appliances for fire protection systems, as he accepted the bribe on Friday, the agency said in a release.
Piprotar had demanded the bribe to help the complainant secure a non-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) for a temporary dome for ‘Property Expo 2024’, the ACB said.
“The accused got in touch with the complainant and claimed that he had contacts with officials in the Rajkot Fire Department. Piprotar said the complainant would have to pay Rs 30,000 over and above the official legal fees if he wanted the fire NOC,” the ACB said.
The accused also claimed that he would make “financial transactions” with officials in RMC's fire department and get the work done, ACB said.
“Since the complainant did not want to pay the bribe, he contacted the ACB. The accused was caught red-handed accepting the bribe of Rs 30,000,” said the anti-corruption agency, adding that a case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A little over two months ago, the then in-charge chief fire officer of RMC was caught by the ACB for accepting a bribe of Rs 1.8 lakh to issue a fire NOC to a building in the city.
Earlier, the RMC’s fire department had come under severe criticism after a massive blaze at a game zone killed 27 persons, including children, on May 25. It was found that the private recreation facility did not have a fire NOC.
Several RMC officials had been arrested in connection with the game zone tragedy.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
