Pune : Talathi, Kotwal Booked For Seeking Rs 10 Lakh Bribe to Waive Rs 2 Crore Penalty
Pune, 5th August 2026: A woman talathi and a kotwal attached to the Shivajinagar Talathi Office have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly demanding a Rs 10 lakh bribe to help a contractor avoid a penalty of nearly Rs 2 crore for excess excavation at a commercial construction site.
The accused have been identified as Ashwini Dattatray Kokate (37), a talathi, and Mahesh Madhukar Mundhe (30), a kotwal. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered an FIR against the duo at Shivajinagar police station on Tuesday following verification of the complaint.
According to the ACB, the complainant is an excavation contractor whose company was carrying out foundation work for a commercial project on Survey No. 967 on Senapati Bapat Road. During an inspection, Kokate allegedly recorded that the excavation exceeded the permitted limit by around 3,200 brass, exposing the contractor to a penalty of approximately Rs 2 crore.
The complainant alleged that Kokate demanded a bribe of Rs 10 lakh in return for submitting a “nil” inspection report to the tehsildar, which would help the contractor avoid the penalty. The complaint was lodged with the ACB on June 15.
During verification, the ACB found that Kokate had allegedly instructed the complainant to hand over the bribe amount to Mundhe. The agency further alleged that Mundhe agreed to accept the money and facilitated the proposed transaction.
After confirming the alleged demand during verification, the ACB registered an offence under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, at Shivajinagar police station on August 4.
Further investigation is underway. The action was carried out under the supervision of senior ACB officials, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Satish Walke and Police Inspector Asavari Shedge.
