Pune: Police Officer Caught in Rs 28 Lakh Bribery Case, ACB Lays Trap
Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune,2nd May 2026: An assistant police inspector from the Pune City Police has been detained by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹28 lakh through an intermediary, officials said on Saturday.
The accused officer has been identified as Vaishali Totewar, who was posted in the Economic Offences Wing at the Pune Police Commissionerate.
According to officials, she had recently been promoted to the rank of Police Inspector and transferred to the Mumbai Railway Police. She was relieved from her duties in Pune on Friday ahead of joining her new posting.
However, before she could assume charge, the ACB had already initiated action based on a complaint alleging that she had demanded a bribe of ₹28 lakh in connection with the investigation of a complaint application assigned to her. A part of the bribe amount was earlier also paid.
As part of the operation, Totewar allegedly asked the complainant to route the money through a private individual and called them to a location near Hotel Conrad. Acting on the tip-off, the ACB laid a trap and caught the intermediary red-handed while accepting the bribe amount of ₹28 lakh.
Following the arrest of the intermediary, Totewar was taken into custody. Subsequently, multiple ACB teams launched simultaneous searches at her office in the Police Commissionerate and her residence. Officials said the searches are ongoing and further details are awaited.
Totewar was handling around eight to nine complaint applications for inquiry at the time of the alleged offence. Further investigation in the case is underway.
