Sagar mayor stripped off administrative powers for seeking bribe

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government has withdrawn financial and administrative powers from the mayor of Sagar city, Abhay Dare after an audio in which he was purportedly heard making a bribe demand from a contractor went viral. In the audio conversation that surfaced about a fortnight back, Dare sought 25 per cent commission from a contractor to pass his pending bills of Rs 10 lakh.

"State government has withdrawn the financial and administrative powers from Sagar city mayor Abhay Dare, following an inquiry conducted by commissioner/secretary, urban administration department Vivek Agrawal," a public relations officer said today. The probe confirmed that the audio was not doctored, the official said.

The government has also directed the authority concerned to register a case in connection with the matter with Economic Offences Wing, he added. He apprised that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had ordered an inquiry into the matter after the audio made rounds on social media platforms. Dare was elected as mayor of Sagar, about 190-kms from the state capital, on a BJP ticket in December 2014.