Navi Mumbai: A 54-year-old vigilant citizen from Noor Co-op. Ho. Society in Sector 9, Vashi, first brought this information to the fore through the Right to Information. After this vigilant citizen complained about this to the Anti-Corruption Department of Navi Mumbai Police, the police caught this bribery red-handed. A case has been registered against the public servants who demanded bribes on Wednesday.

A vigilant 54-year-old citizen exposed CIDCO’s bribery issue through RTI, leading to a police operation that caught public servants demanding bribes, resulting in legal action against them.

The complainant is the secretary of Noor Society in Sector 9, Vashi. The executive committee of Noor Society was dissolved due to the resignation of some members. After that, the administration of this housing society was run under the administrative control of the Co-Registrar of Cooperative Societies of CIDCO.

Later, after the election of the executive board of the society, while he was working as the secretary again, the opposition applied to the Deputy Registrar’s Office and demanded the abolition of the relevant committee. Apart from this, an allegation of holding the annual general meeting late was also registered.

On August 7, an order was given to stop the processing of this application (close of order). To give the result in favor of the complainant, the public servants of the Co-Registrar’s Office of CIDCO demanded a bribe of Rs. 5 lakh. After a compromise, the amount was fixed at Rs. 3 lakh 50 thousand. After verifying the authenticity of this demand, a trap was laid in the Co-Registrar’s Office of CIDCO on September 10.

Rahul Kamble, who was working in this office at that time, was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe through constable Mahesh Kamothkar. A case has been registered under sections 7, 7A, 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act for demanding and accepting bribes.

The accused include Rahul Rangrao Kamble (aged 50), Dhanaji Dattatray Kalukhe (aged 52), private Kishore Shankarrao More, and constable Mahesh Gangaram Kamothkar, said Dharmaraj Sonke, Deputy Superintendent of the Anti-Bribery Department. All four suspects will be produced in court on Thursday afternoon. The police will investigate which other senior officials of CIDCO are involved in this amount of Rs 3.5 lakh.

Mumbai: The road concretisation project, which was temporarily suspended during the four-month monsoon season, is set to resume next month. The BMC will first prioritise the completion of 574 roads, spanning 156.74 km, which were partially completed and secured before the onset of rains. In addition to these, 776 new roads, covering approximately 208.70 km, will also be taken up for concretisation in the upcoming phase.

So far, 49% of the total roads taken up under the BMC’s concretisation project have been completed, with nearly 64% completion recorded in the second phase.

As per civic data, over 771 roads covering 186 km have been fully completed, while 547 roads spanning 156.74 km remain partially completed. The concretisation work was halted after May 31 due to the onset of the monsoon. However, the work is now scheduled to resume from October 1, a senior civic official confirmed.

“To minimise disruption for citizens, we will carry out the road concretisation work in phases. Simultaneously, roads where work has not yet commenced will also be taken up,” according to an official.

Phase I of the project is targeted for completion by May 2026, while Phase II is expected to witness substantial progress, with full execution likely by the first half of 2027.

Meanwhile, following public criticism over road concretisation work in certain areas, the BMC has launched a public dashboard to enhance transparency and accountability.

The portal allows citizens to track the status of the concretisation project, providing key details such as the contractor’s name, start and expected completion dates, and other relevant information for each road earmarked for concretisation.

Mumbai: Investors from Mumbai and rural Maharashtra were allegedly cheated of Rs 2.55 crore by Meera Clean Fuel Pvt Ltd.

As per the complaint, the company lured hundreds of persons, including farmers, entrepreneurs, and professionals, into investing in its purported bio-fuel and bio-CNG projects, promising massive returns and government-backed support.

The FIR, filed at Matunga police station, names company directors Meera Shivaji Gholap, Dr Lavesh Ramchandra Jadhav, executive director Prachi Dhole, and managing director and CEO Dr Sham Shivaji Gholap as the key accused. The complaint was lodged by a 55-year-old business consultant, Jagdish Paighan, who claims to have been personally defrauded of over Rs 1.34 crore, while investors from Yavatmal were cheated of around Rs 1.21 crore.

The accused allegedly convinced investors that shares in their firm would rise to Rs 1,000 per unit post-investment, and bio-fuel projects would be implemented at the taluka (sub-district) level. Through various webinars, meetings with district collectors, and events like World Biofuel Day, the company officials allegedly recruited locals as taluka heads and village entrepreneurs under what they claimed was a government-aligned entrepreneurship model.

The police complaint mentions how Paighan was introduced to the company in April 2018 by an acquaintance. Sanjay Kambare, who invited him to their office in Dadar (East). At the office, the walls prominently displayed images of a biofuel factory alongside photographs of Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sheila Dikshit, allegedly inaugurating the project. During the meeting, Kambare claimed that Dr Gholap was not only a subdivisional magistrate posted in Mumbai but also a qualified doctor. He claimed Dr Gholap’s affiliations with prestigious institutions and even stated that they had worked with former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s team.

Prachi Dhole was presented as a “double gold medallist” from BITS Pilani with R&D experience in Germany. They showcased images and documents related to successful bio-diesel and bio-CNG projects allegedly set up in Ratnagiri and Mumbai. The company claimed to have patented technology to produce bio-CNG from Napier elephant grass and claimed that their plant was already operational in Kolad, Raigad. To build credibility, World Biofuel Day celebrations were held at upscale venues like Sahara Star Hotel and Oberoi Hotel.

The company projected a Rs 3,000 crore turnover per taluka and investors were required to form private limited companies, acquire farmland or industrial plots, and even start local businesses at their own cost. Paighan too established RasSindhu Producer Organisation and leased five acres of land and spent approximately Rs 7 lakh to prepare the site for a bioCNG plant. However, the firm later claimed that the land was “insufficient”. So, in Umarkhed taluka, Paighan and his team spent over Rs88 lakh on land, machinery, and infrastructure.

Despite these efforts, no project ever became operational. Engineers were hired in Mumbai, Dombivli, Pusad, and Kolad, many of whom remain unpaid. When the pandemic was waning, at a meeting held at Mumbai’s Oberoi Hotel on June 30, 2021, Dr Gholap claimed that Meera Clean had enough funding to launch one project in each of India’s 5,500 talukas. He announced that 200 CNG plants would be launched by January 26, 2022, and told taluka heads to form bodies with 10,000 members each.

Despite collecting crores from investors, neither promised shares nor projects materialised. Checks issued for refunds bounced due to “stop payment” instructions. On February 14 this year, all three company offices were abruptly shut down, further raising suspicion among investors.