Thane, Jan 1 (PTI) Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered 713 cases of corruption in 2024, a significant reduction compared to 1,316 cases recorded a decade ago in 2014, as per data.

The 713 cases include 678 traps, 31 cases of disproportionate assets (DA), and seven related offences.

The data sourced from the ACB website shows that cases declined steadily since 2014.

In 2015, 1,279 cases of corruption were registered, followed by 1,016 in 2016 and 925 in 2017.

Years 2018 and 2019 saw 936 and 891 cases, respectively, while the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020 witnessed a sharp drop to 663 cases. Subsequent years reported 773 cases in 2021, 749 in 2022, and 812 in 2023.

The 713 cases registered in 2024 involve 1,086 individuals, including 993 persons in trap cases, 59 in DA cases, and 34 in other corruption cases.

Among the regions, Nashik accounted for the highest number of cases, with 152 involving 234 individuals, followed by Pune with 149 cases and 223 individuals.

Mumbai recorded 39 cases involving 54 individuals, Thane 73 cases and 115 individuals. A total of 62 cases were registered in Nagpur against 93 persons, 68 in Amravati against 99 persons, and 112 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar against 180 individuals.

The 678 trap cases in 2024 involved 993 individuals and amounted to Rs 3.18 crore. Of these, the largest number of cases were recorded in the Revenue Department, with 180 cases involving 252 individuals and Rs 0.35 crore. The police department followed with 137 cases involving 199 individuals and Rs 0.53 crore.

These cases included 62 class I officers, 101 class II officers, 510 class III officers, 47 class IV officers, and 104 others.

The 31 DA cases registered in 2024 involved 61 individuals and Rs 31.69 crore. The Revenue Department accounted for the highest number of eight DA cases involving Rs 4.10 crore.

Civic corporations followed with four cases involving 10 individuals.

Seven other corruption cases in 2024 involved 34 individuals, including six class-I officers, five class-II officers, and 12 class-III officers, the ACB data shows. PTI COR NSK

Decline in corruption cases shows steady downward trend, with trap and disproportionate asset investigations concentrated in specific departments. A reported downward trend in Anti-Corruption Bureau registrations shows the current-year caseload is dominated by trap cases, with disproportionate assets inquiries and a few other offences comprising the remainder; the statistics are broken down by case type, implicated individuals, region, department, and officer grade, revealing concentrated activity in particular districts and in departments such as Revenue and Police.