Municipal Commissioner Ravindra Jadhav

The work was routine: clearing grass and repairing water pipelines in Malegaon. The bills came to Rs 20 lakh. To clear them, a contractor told the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), three officials of the Malegaon Municipal Corporation wanted a 4 per cent commission.

On Thursday, the ACB’s Nashik unit arrested all three: Municipal Commissioner Ravindra Jadhav, his personal assistant Nilesh Patil and the corporation’s accountant Harish Dimber. They are accused of demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 80,000, which is 4 per cent of Rs 20 lakh.

Jadhav was due to retire on October 31, two days later.

How the trap was laid

According to the ACB, the complaint concerned bills for two works the contractor had carried out for the corporation. The bureau verified the allegations before laying a trap on Thursday, when the three were arrested.

“The complaint was received earlier, following which we verified the allegations and laid a trap.…