ACB files chargesheet against officer in a five-year-old bribery case

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday filed a chargesheet against a former medical superintendent of Kathua district hospital who was caught red handed while accepting bribe nearly five years ago.

The chargesheet was filed against Manoj Bhagat in the court of special judge anti-corruption in Kathua after sanction for launching of prosecution of the accused was obtained from the competent authority on completing the investigation of the case, an ACB official said.

He said the next date of hearing has been fixed on December 3.

Acting on a complaint by Sunil Sharma, owner of Health Care Medicos and attorney holder of Messrs Khajuria Medical Agency Kathua, the ACB laid a trap and arrested Bhagat, a resident of Jammu, on December 24, 2014 while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000, the official said, adding he was subsequently released on bail.

In his complaint, Sharma alleged that the medical superintendent had demanded the bribe to release his payment against the supply of medical items delivered to the hospital as per agreement executed by the firm with Bhagat's predecessor after following codal formalities.