India, Oct. 3 -- If he had pocketed the Rs.20 lakh bribe he had originally demanded from a builder, this senior civic official from Thane may have got away with it. Instead, he upped the sum to Rs.50 lakh, prompting the angry builder to report him and get him arrested.

Now Shankar Patole, deputy municipal commissioner with the Thane Municipal corporation (TMC), and his associate Omkar Gaikar, an alleged middleman, are in police custody after they were arrested on Wednesday. They were arrested by the Mumbai ACB from the TMC headquarters, and remanded to custody by a local court in Thane.

Police said the Thane-based builder had secured the rights to develop a prime property in Vishnu Nagar in Naupada. However, three illegal shops stood in...