School official held for accepting bribe

“The school chairman had initially asked for a donation amount of Rs 2500 from the girl student (identity withheld); however, after a lot of bargaining the amount was brought down to Rs 1500,” said Parab. But instead of quietly paying up the sum, the girl’s brother informed the ACB about the matter and a police team was soondispatched to the school to arrest the chairman, after laying down a fool-proof trap.

At the time of actual trap, Rajaram had become a little more greedy and asked for Rs 50 extra from the girl. But the game was up since the ACB had witnessed the entire exchange and arrested the chairman. Rajaram is presently cooling his heels in a Parel lock-up since accepting donation is a cognizable offence as per the Anti-Capitation Fee Act, 1987. He will be produced before the Esplanade Court on Monday.

Parab admitted that such offenders escaped ACB since no one really came forward to register complaints. “Any affected party can directly meet us at our Worli office or call up ACB on phone numbers 4922618 and 4921212 and we will take action,” he said.

He further stated that though this is their first educational case of the year, the ACB is confident of catching more such culprits once the school and college admissions begin in full swing. Parab, though, stated that last year only four donation-linked cases wererecorded by the police.

While welcoming ACB’s quick action, educationist and President of Forum For Fairness In Education (FFFIE), Bhagvanji Raiyani commented: “If all the students and parents start approaching the police this way then the menace of donations will totally end. The Forum will also keep a watch for such cases in the current admission season.”