Maha: Doctor, staff arrested for bribe in free family planning surgery

According to news reports, both accused were produced before a local court on Tuesday and remanded to police custody for three days.

Speaking to TOI, ACB Inspector Santosh Tigote stated that the accused had demanded ₹6,000 from a patient for a family planning surgery. After negotiations, the 58-year-old doctor agreed to accept ₹1,200 from the patient as an illegal bribe and instructed him to deposit the money with a sanitation worker. However, the procedure was supposed to be performed free of cost.

The family was unwilling to pay the bribe; therefore, the female patient's brother lodged a formal complaint with the ACB. After verifying the demand for the bribe, a trap was laid.

"We caught the sanitation worker red-handed while accepting the bribe, and the doctor was subsequently held. The bribe amount was recovered, and the mobile phones of both accused were seized. We also searched the house of the main accused," Tigote said.

Meanwhile, the Bidkin Police have registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and have initiated an investigation into the matter.

The ACB has appealed to the public that if anyone demands money to get their work done, they should contact them and lodge an official complaint.

Medical Dailogues had recently reported that observing that it is immaterial whether a public servant receives, accepts, or attempts to obtain an undue advantage directly or through a third party, the Madhya Pradesh High Court refused to quash an FIR against a government doctor accused of demanding a bribe to allow a centre to continue functioning on the campus of a Community Health Center in Khargapur.