Thane medical officer caught red-handed for accepting Rs 11000 bribe

Thane: A female medical officer of a public health centre (PHC) in Maharashtra's Thane district was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 11,000 from a staff member.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau has apprehended a woman medical officer of a public health centre (PHC) in Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 11,000 from a staff member, the ACB said on Thursday.

The accused allegedly asked the staff member to generate fabricated medical bills of Rs 22,000 out of the funds sanctioned by the government for the PHC located in the Shahapur area, and give her 50 per cent of the amount, the ACB said in a release.

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When the staffer refused to oblige, the medical officer threatened to give a negative about him in the service record and to complain to higher-ups against him about alleged dereliction of duty, it said.

To save him from the action, she allegedly demanded Rs 11,000 as a bribe, the release said.

The staffer approached the ACB’s Thane unit which laid a trap at the PHC on Wednesday evening and caught the medical officer accepting the bribe amount of Rs 11,000 from the complainant, the release said.

A case was registered against the medical officer under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the ACB added.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that a medical officer of Civil Hospital in Haryana's Palwal was nabbed by a team of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Gurugram red-handed while accepting a bribe, officials said. The medical officer demanded Rs 38,000 in exchange for keeping the private hospital open after threatening to shut it. The accused had already taken Rs 50,000 from the hospital, a senior officer of ACB said.