Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
In a high profile catch, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday netted Dean of Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Mayo Hospital for demanding bribe from a supplier of medicines. Dean Dr Meenakshi Gajbhiye (Wahane) had allegedly asked for gratification of Rs. 15,000 to clear the pending bill of Rs. 2.94 lakh.
On Monday, sleuths of ACB laid a trap at IGGMC and Dr Wahane allegedly asked for bribe and later directed the complainant to hand over the money to canteen contractor. As soon as the mess contractor, Vijay Mishra (44), a resident of Babulkheda, accepted the bribe amount (the notes were marked with special ink) waiting ACB team pounced on him. The bribe money was seized and Mishra was detained.
As soon as the trap was declared successful, separate teams of ACB moved into Dharampeth residence of Dean Dr Wahane. The ACB team conducted searches and were scrutinising documents that they came across at Dr Wahane's house. The ACB is also going to check details of her bank account, that of property and other assets.
According to information, the complainants runs a medical store near IGGMCH. The hospital issued a tender notice in July 2015 seeking supply of medicines to the hospital. The complained submitted the bid and his was the lowest quotation and it got selected. The complainant had supplied medicines to the hospital during the Winter Session-2016.
The supplier's bill was processed by the Accounts Department and the file was put-up before Dean for her sanction. Since the bill clearance was getting delayed the complainant made discreet inquiries and learnt that Dr Wahane's nod is awaited. The supplier met Dr Wahane on December 28 and raised issue about clearance of bill. At this juncture, the complainant said the Dean sought bribe to clear the bill. The amount was settled at Rs. 15,000, but the complainant was not interested in paying the bribe and hence approached ACB and informed about the illegal gratification. The complainant had already quoted quite low for supplying medicines and further paying bribe would have impacted his margin and hence he chose to lodge a complaint against the Dean.
The complainant lodged a complaint on January 10, 2017 against Dr. Wahane. After hearing the complainant, Superintendent of Police (SP) ACB, Nagpur Division, Sanjay Darade, designated special officers of Gondia unit to verify the demand. During verification, Dr. Wahane had directed the complainant to deposit the money with mess contractor Vijay Uditnarayan Mishra (44).
As per directions, on Monday evening the complainant reached the RH Hostel mess where Mishra was present to accept the money. As soon as complainant handed over the money, the sleuths of ACB in plain clothes swung in action and trapped Mishra red handed.
An offence has been registered against Dr. Wahane and Mishra under Sections 7, 12, 13 91) (D) and Sub-sections 13 (2) of Anti-Corruption Act. Dr. Wahane was appointed as dean of IGGMCH last year. She was earlier working as head of Radiology Department at famous J. J. Hospital, Mumbai.
Additional SP Roshan Yadav, DySP Dinkar Thosre, PI Pramod Ghonge and staff including Ranjit Bisen, Digambar Jadhav, Nitin Rahangdale, Vandana Bisen, Devanand Marbate, Monali Choudhary, Gajanan Gadge, Pallavi Bobde and others were part of the team that effected the trap.
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