Thane: Education department officer held for bribe

THANE: An education department officer was arrested on Tuesday here in Maharashtra for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2.50 lakh from officials of a school, the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) said.

Brijesh Gupta, an extension officer of the department posted at Vasai here, had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 6 lakh from the headmistress of the school for granting approval for starting new classes (from Std VI to XII), the ACB said in a release.

He later reduced the amount to Rs 5 lakh which was to be paid in instalments, it said.

The school management agreed to pay the amount and the same time lodged a complaint with the Thane unit of the ACB, the anti-graft agency said.

ACB officials laid a trap and arrested Gupta when he was accepting the first instalment of Rs 2.50 lakh, the release stated.

The 41-year-old has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, it added.