Police custody for deputy collector, aide

PUNE: Deputy collector of Pune Shripati More and his aide, Ramchandra Kharade, who had accepted a bribe of Rs 15,000 on behalf of the former, were remanded in police custody till March 13 by a special court here on Friday.
More, who works in Pune land records office, had demanded the money from a farmer for giving a “favourable judgment” in a land dispute case on Thursday.

A search conducted by the anti-corruption bureau at More’s flat at Vadgaonsheri led to recovery of Rs 38.33 lakh. The ACB also conducted searches at More’s another flat in Solapur, but nothing incriminating was found.

Pressing for police custody, additional public prosecutor Premkumar Agarwal urged for sufficient time to the ACB to interrogate More to find out whether the money seized from his house was from legal source of income and also how he came in contact with Kharade. Agarwal also sought time to find out whether more people were involved in the case.

Opposing the prosecution’s plea, defence lawyer Suhas Kolhe submitted that the custodial interrogation of More and Kharade was not needed as the ACB had recovered the bribe of Rs 15,000 and completed investigations in the case.

On the recovery of over Rs 38.33 lakh, Kolhe said the ACB has not registered a case against More for possessing property disproportionate to his known sources of income. He pleaded judicial custody for both of them. On hearing both the sides, the court remanded them in police custody enabling the ACB to conduct a thorough investigation.