Thane, Jun 4 : The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a government medical officer posted in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 4,500 from a pregnant woman in exchange for providing an abortion pill kit, officials said on Thursday.
The accused has been identified as 48-year-old Dr Kanchan Shirish Madar, a medical officer (Class 1) posted at the Sub-District Hospital in Kamathe under Chiplun taluka of Ratnagiri.
The complainant woman wished to undergo a medical termination of her pregnancy. When she approached Dr Madar at the state-run hospital on June 3, he demanded a bribe ranging between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 to issue the government-allotted medical kit containing the required abortion pills, said Avinash Patil, Deputy Superintendent of Police, ACB (Ratnagiri unit).
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the woman approached the ACB and filed a complaint.
The anti-graft agency first verified the complaint and laid a trap before catching the doctor red-handed while accepting the marked currency notes of Rs 4,500 from the complainant inside her private four-wheeler, the official said.
The doctor was taken into custody by the officials of the ACB and placed and under arrest. A case was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Chiplun police station.
