Mumbai: In a dramatic Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) crackdown inside the corridors of power, a clerk attached to the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was caught red-handed while allegedly accepting a Rs 35,000 bribe at Mantralaya, sending shockwaves through the State Secretariat.
The accused, Rajendra Dherange, was trapped on Thursday evening after he allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 from a complainant seeking restoration of his medical licence. According to ACB officials, the complainant approached the bureau after repeated demands for money. Acting swiftly, the ACB laid a trap and apprehended Dherange while he was allegedly accepting Rs 35,000 as part payment inside his office on the second floor of Mantralaya.
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While the ACB clarified that the arrest took place in the FDA office premises, the opposition Congress claimed that the trap was laid inside a Cabinet Minister’s office, intensifying the political storm surrounding the incident.
A case has been registered against Dherange under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further investigations are underway to examine whether others were involved.
The FDA department falls under the jurisdiction of NCP leader and Minister Narhari Zirwal, adding a political dimension to the controversy.
Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal termed the episode “shocking,” alleging that it exposes “open and unchecked corruption” within Mantralaya under the Mahayuti Government. In a post on X, he claimed that bribery and commission-taking had become rampant and demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis make full disclosures about the case and take action against the concerned minister.
The high-profile arrest inside the State’s most powerful administrative building has once again raised uncomfortable questions about transparency and accountability at the highest levels of governance.
