Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on Tuesday arrested an assistant professor of the prestigious Birla College in Kalyan for allegedly demanding bribe from a student to ensure he did not fail in exams.
Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on Tuesday arrested an assistant professor of the prestigious Birla College in Kalyan for allegedly demanding bribe from a student to ensure he did not fail in exams.
According to ACB officials, the assistant professor, identified as Bhimrao Kharat (51), works in the department of political science in the Arts section of the college.
“After the recently concluded Final year exam for Bachelor or Arts, Kharat started enquiring about a particular student. When he finally got through to the student, he allegedly informed him that he was going to fail in two papers — incidentally which he was correcting,” said an officer. Kharat then told the student that he could ensure he did not fail provided the student paid him some money, the officer said.
“Kharat demanded Rs 3,000 from the student and after negotiation agreed to accept Rs 2,000,” added the official. Sources in the ACB informed that the student was shocked when he got the call, as he was confident that he had performed well in the exam.
“He was confident that he could not fail in any subject and hence he decided to approach the officials. He went to the ACB office and our officials laid a trap for the accused,” said an officer.
After getting information, the Thane Unit of the ACB kicked into action. On Tuesday morning at about 10.30 am they told the 23-year-old student to ask the professor to come somewhere near the college. The student did so and Kharat was arrested red-handed while he was allegedly accepting the bribe money. The officials recovered Rs 2,000 from the arrested accused.
Kharat, who is currently in the custody of the ACB, has been remanded to police custody. The officials are investigating whether the accused had any similar cases against him in the past and will be talking to other students and professors about it. The ACB will also be conducting a house search of the accused to see if any other incriminating evidence is found.
