Corruption down by 24 per cent, claims ACB

Mumbai: The state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has said that there has been a 24 per cent decline in the number of cases registered during January to June 19 in Maharashtra, compared to last year. The ACB had registered 498 cases in the period between January to June of 2016, but only 380 in the same period this year. The dip is being attributed to the agency functioning in a proactive and swift manner.

According to the statistics available till June 2017, the revenue department was the most corrupt with 131 cases, followed by the police department with 89 cases. The revenue department and the police departments are in constant touch with people and hence, the corruption in these departments is widely reported to ACB.

After trapping an official, ACB officials go through the financial and property details of the accused. If the amount exceeds the known sources of income, a case with regard to disproportionate assets is registered.

The year also saw a dip in cases of disproportionate assets, as only 14 such cases were registered, as against 35 in 2015. ACB sources stated that efforts are on to sensitise the masses to register a complaint whenever a bribe is sought.

The highest numbers of cases were registered in Pune (94) followed by Nashik (58), Nagpur (50), Thane (52), Aurangabad (51), Amrawati (35) and Nanded (45).