Excise Inspector Arrested For Demanding ₹22 Lakh Bribe For Liquor Licence
Pune: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested an inspector of the Maharashtra State Excise Department for allegedly demanding a ₹22 lakh bribe from a liquor licence consultant in exchange for facilitating the approval of liquor-related licences. The accused has been identified as Jitendra Harishchandra Patil (47), an Excise Department inspector residing in Kothrud, Pune. According to the…
Pune: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested Maharashtra State Excise Department inspector Jitendra Harishchandra Patil for allegedly demanding a ₹22 lakh bribe to secure approval for liquor licences. Patil, aged 47 and residing in Kothrud, Pune, was identified as the accused by the ACB. According to the bureau, the complainant, a liquor licence consultant, had sought approval for an FL-3 liquor licence and microbrewery fees for one of his firms.
Initially, Patil demanded ₹12 lakh for forwarding the FL-3 licence file and another ₹8 lakh for the microbrewery fee-related file, escalating the demand to ₹20 lakh. On April 10, 2026, the complainant reported the incident to the ACB, who conducted verifications on April 13 and May 21 and 22. During these verifications, Patil allegedly demanded the total bribe amount of ₹22 lakh from the complainant.
Following negotiations, the bribe was allegedly reduced to ₹11 lakh. The ACB subsequently registered a case against Patil at Yerawada Police Station, leading to his arrest on Monday evening. The arrest was conducted under the supervision of ACB Superintendent Shirish Sardeshpande and Additional Superintendent Ajit Patil.
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