04 June,2026 09:27 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
The doctor was allegedly caught red-handed while accepting marked currency notes worth Rs 4,500 from the complainant. Representational pic
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has arrested a government medical officer posted in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district 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, reported PTI.
The accused has been identified as 48-year-old Dr Kanchan Shirish Madar, a Class I medical officer posted at the Sub-District Hospital in Kamathe under Chiplun taluka in Ratnagiri.
The complainant wished to undergo a medical termination of pregnancy. When she approached Dr Madar at the state-run hospital on June 3, the doctor allegedly demanded a bribe of between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 to issue a 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 lodged a complaint.
The anti-graft agency verified the complaint and subsequently laid a trap. The doctor was allegedly caught red-handed while accepting marked currency notes worth Rs 4,500 from the complainant inside her private four-wheeler, the official said, reported PTI.
The ACB officials took the doctor into custody and placed her under arrest. A case has been registered at Chiplun police station under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A clerk from the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra's Palghar district was arrested for accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 to initiate action in an alleged land encroachment matter, an official said on Wednesday.
Accused Dilip Laxman Lokhande (52) is posted at Sativali, G-Ward office, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Dadaram Karande from the ACB's Thane unit said that a man holding the power of attorney for a piece of land approached the civic clerk after a person encroached upon the plot and cut down trees.
Lokhande allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 to serve a notice and take action. After the man approached the ACB, a trap was laid on Tuesday, and Lokhande was caught accepting the bribe amount, the official said, reported PTI.
He has since been arrested, and a case has been registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Valiv police station, the official added.
(With PTI inputs)
