PUNE, Nov 23: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths on Saturday arrested Shankarsingh Oswal, a hardware shop owner from Lonavla, on the charges of offering a bribe of Rs 45,000 to the Inspector in-charge of the Lonavla Police Station Sharad Jadhav to hush up a cheating case in which his involvement was suspected.

Acting on a complaint from Jadhav, an ACB team laid a trap at the Inspector's Lonavla residence and caught Oswal while offering the bribe to him. The amount of Rs 45,000 which Oswal was carrying on him was also seized, a press communique issued by Superintendent of Police (ACB) S M Mushrif said.

Oswal was suspected to have involved in cheating Umedali Jayrajbhai from Mumbai, Mushrif said. Umedali had lodged a complaint with the Lonavla police stating that some unidentified persons had sold a plot of land owned by his father Sultanali at Tungarli village in Maval taluka without his consent.

According to the ACB officials, the preliminary investigations by Inspector Jadhav revealed that Shankarsingh Oswal was involved in selling the plot to Kalpanachand Gautam from Mumbai and purchasing it again from him. Oswal had been granted anticipatory bail in the case, they added.

Oswal had allegedly offered to pay Rs 45,000 to Jadhav and Rs 7,000 to the Inspector's assistant Head Constable Niravade as bribe when he was asked to produce himself at the Lonavala police station for questioning on November 19.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.