The Thane Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested a revenue assistant and a peon attached to the Thane Collector’s Office after allegedly catching them accepting a ₹50,000 bribe to change the address of an Aaple Sarkar service centre and reactivate its online registration, according to a report by Loksatta – Thane.
The arrested officials have been identified as revenue assistant Ganesh Balakrishna More, 52, and peon Khalid Gulab Sheikh, 53. The case was registered at Thane Nagar police station after the alleged trap operation in the Jambli Naka area on the evening of September 11, 2026.
The complaint was filed by the operator of an Aaple Sarkar service centre run in his wife’s name. The centre had been operating since 2017 from Sona Rivet building in Mira Road East. The operator later shifted it to Shop No. 7 in Rabia Tower, also in Mira Road East, after the earlier building reportedly became old and unsafe.
The operator submitted an application on February 23, 2026, to the Setu and Registration Branch of the Thane Collector’s Office to record the new address on the Aaple Sarkar website. The complaint alleged that ₹50,000 was demanded to update the address and make the centre’s online registration active at the new location.
The ACB verified the complaint in the presence of independent witnesses on September 10. During that verification, More and Sheikh allegedly demanded ₹50,000 and indicated their willingness to accept the money, the report said. The bureau subsequently arranged a trap near Jambli Naka the following evening.
According to the reported case details, the two officials were apprehended while accepting the alleged bribe from the complainant. The case now involves the functioning of a public-facing service centre, its address change and the activation of its registration on the state’s online service platform. Further legal action will proceed through the police case registered at Thane Nagar police station.
