It seems that when it comes to corruption, the underdog has surpassed the obvious suspect, and how! According to a list declared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Pune is the state's most corrupt city, while Mumbai, despite being the commercial capital, is the least!

The list, which has 7 cities on it, has tarnished Pune's reputation of being one of the state's nicest cities known for its diversity. It was also known for being an educational, cultural and commercial hub.

This year, 216 people were arrested by the ACB in Pune while accepting bribes. Nashik falls in the second position in the list, with 210 government officials being arrested while accepting bribes. Following Nashik are Aurangabad, Nagpur, Amravati, Nanded and lastly, Mumbai.

Pune is famous for its educational facilities as many leading institutes of international repute have come up in the city. With the development of the Information Technology (IT) sector and industrial development sector in the last couple of years, corruption has seen a multiple growth too.

The ACB has seized assets worth Rs 133 crore in Pune. According to the agency, the reason of for unearthing bribe cases in Pune is awareness among the public who are now coming forward to file complaints against corruption. If this trend continues, officials will be more afraid of demanding bribes.

Though Mumbai is ranked eighth this year, it was in the list's top three last year. This year, the ACB has arrested 90 people accepting bribes in the city. "The officers and staff who demand bribes are very intelligent and smart. They use different types of modus operandi to avoid getting detected or trapped," said a senior police officer who did not wish to be named.

The most corrupt departments were revenue, police, panchayat samiti, municipal council, municipal corporations and education.

Praveen Dixit, director general of police, ACB, said, "People hesitate to come forward to lodge complaints against corruption. There is a myth that if they approach ACB, their work in the concerned department would be withheld by other officers, but there is nothing of that sort. Some engineers were trapped by the ACB in BMC sometime back, and the complainant feared that his work would be not cleared. Surprisingly, his files which were pending for five to six years were cleared immediately. The concerned officials use to call him up to collect his sanctioned files so he is happy now."

"Ultimately corruption can be eradicated only if civil society wills it so. Now we have a toll-free number, 1064, on which people can inform the ACB about corruption. We will go to the complainant's doorsteps and help lodge the complaint instead of them coming to us. Corruption can be eradicated if people come forward. I appeal to the people that ACB will always stand by their legitimate cases and make sure that their work will not suffer in any department," added DGP Dixit.

Black listPuneNashikAurangabadNagpurAmravatiNandedMumbai

Most corrupt depts:RevenuePolicePanchayat samitiMunicipal councilMunicipal corporationsEducation

To report a corruption case, call ACB's hotline:1064