Additional public prosecutor caught for 'taking bribe' gets bail

A local court on Tuesday granted bail to an additional public prosecutor who was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau while allegedly accepting bribe inside a courtroom.

Sessions judge A N Karmakar granted Mangesh Arote bail on a surety of Rs 25,000.

In the bail application filed through advocate Harshad Bhavkar, Arote denied having demanded any bribe.

Bhavkar told reporters that the court considered his submission that Arote was in ACB custody for four days during which the police carried out verification panchnama and conducted house search, but nothing incriminating was found.

The alleged bribe amount has been recovered and the investigation is over, he told the court.

Arote was caught on August 29 while allegedly accepting Rs 50,000 from an accused in a case inside a sessions court. He had allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh to conduct the prosecution less aggressively and help the accused get discharged from a case.