Pune ACB Traps Forest Official for Accepting Rs 4 Lakh Bribe over Land Records
Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 29th March 2026: The Pune unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) caught a Class-2 forest official red-handed on Sunday while accepting a bribe of ₹4 lakh. The accused allegedly demanded the money to facilitate the removal of “private forest” mentions from land records.
The accused has been identified as Udaysingh Bhimrao Kumbhar (46), a Forest Field Surveyor (Van Kshetra Sarvekshak) attached to the Office of the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) on Senapati Bapat Road, Pune.
According to the ACB, the 48-year-old complainant is in the business of land trading. He had applied to the Forest Department to obtain 11 “restored orders” for land parcels located in Chikhalsegaon, Apati, and Kunenama villages in Maval Taluka. These orders were necessary to remove “private forest” remarks from the 7/12 (Satbara) land extract documents.
On March 4, 2026, when the complainant followed up on his application, Kumbhar informed him that 7 of the 11 orders were ready in the record room. To hand over these documents, the official initially demanded a bribe of ₹7,00,000.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the ACB Pune office on March 13, 2026. Following a verification of the demand on the same day, the bribe amount was settled at ₹4,00,000 after negotiations.
A trap was laid on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at Aranyeshwar Chowk on the road in front of the Poona Preventive Cardiology Center and Y.K. Vadewale Hotel. Kumbhar was caught red-handed at approximately 12:35 PM while accepting the ₹4 lakh cash from the complainant.
The process of registering an offense under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, is currently underway at the Sahakarnagar Police Station, Pune.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of Superintendent of Police (ACB Pune) Shirish Sardeshpande, Additional SP Ajit Patil, and Additional SP Arjun Bhosale. The trap team was led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Satish Valke and Police Inspector Prasad Lonare.
The ACB has appealed to the public to report any instances where government officials or private agents demand bribes for official work by contacting their helpline numbers (020-26122134) or their WhatsApp numbers (9403781064 / 9930997700).
