Man Held for Accepting Rs 30,000 Bribe to Help Secure Fire Noc From Rajkot Civic Body

Rajkot: A man has been arrested for allegedly accepting a Rs 30,000 bribe to get a fire NOC from the Rajkot civic body for a structure being erected for a property expo, officials said on Saturday.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau laid a trap and detained accused Kaushik Piprotar, a sales executive with a firm selling mechanical appliances for fire protection systems, as he accepted the bribe on Friday, the agency said in a release.

Piprotar had demanded the bribe to help the complainant secure a non-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) for a temporary dome for ‘Property Expo 2024’, the ACB said.

“The accused got in touch with the complainant and claimed that he had contacts with officials in the Rajkot Fire Department. Piprotar said the complainant would have to pay Rs 30,000 over and above the official legal fees if he wanted the fire NOC,” the ACB said.

The accused also claimed that he would make “financial transactions” with officials in RMC's fire department and get the work done, ACB said.

“Since the complainant did not want to pay the bribe, he contacted the ACB. The accused was caught red-handed accepting the bribe of Rs 30,000,” said the anti-corruption agency, adding that a case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A little over two months ago, the then in-charge chief fire officer of RMC was caught by the ACB for accepting a bribe of Rs 1.8 lakh to issue a fire NOC to a building in the city.

Earlier, the RMC’s fire department had come under severe criticism after a massive blaze at a game zone killed 27 persons, including children, on May 25. It was found that the private recreation facility did not have a fire NOC.

Several RMC officials had been arrested in connection with the game zone tragedy.