THE ANTI Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday arrested a policeman assigned to a court for liaison between local police station and the courtroom, for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1,500 from an accused seeking bail in Thane.
An official said the complainant in the anti-corruption case is the father of a man who was arrested by Wagle Estate police in Thane earlier this month.
Recently, the arrested person had applied for bail. In order to be granted bail by the court, the opinion of the investigating officer of the case is sought by the court.
In this case, when the arrested person’s father came to the court to submit the documents containing the opinion of the investigating officer, the court staffer, identified as Milind Joshi (42), who was attached to the Wagle Estate police station and liaisons with the court, demanded a bribe. In order to put the document on record in the court, Joshi demanded Rs 2,000 and agreed to settle for Rs 1,500 on negotiation.
Not wanting to make the payment, the father of the arrested accused approached the ACB.
As per their instruction, he agreed to pay Joshi on Monday. Around 1.30pm, as Joshi was accepting the money, the ACB officials apprehended him red-handed. An official said they will be arresting him and producing him before the court to seek his custody.