Four years after an officer of Dongri home was caught in a sting operation for allegedly extorting bribes from parents of juveniles to hand over the child’s custody to them, the anti corruption bureau (ACB) has registered a case of bribe demand.
According to ACB, they have registered a case against Deepak Sangle, 32, the then store manager. A sting operation was carried out by a news channel in 2016 where Sangle was caught red-handed for allegedly demanding bribes and leaving the parents no choice but to bribe the officials to seek custody of their children.
“A juvenile was rescued as part of child labour action and was sent to the Dongri home,” said an ABC officer. “Sangle demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 which was lowered down to Rs 18,000. A sting was done in this regard and aired by a news channel. An open enquiry was initiated by the ACB after the Bombay High Court took suo moto action and ordered probe,” the officer said.
As per the law, acceptance of bribe is not a mandatory requirement to prosecute a public servant and demand too is punishable offence. The ACB has booked the accused under relevant sections of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 198
The incident took place within the premises at the Dongri observation home at Umerkhadi. In April 2016, one of the juveniles was brought to the Dongri home and the court had issued orders to release him and hand over custody to the parent.
The officials had allegedly threatened the parents that if they did not pay the bribes, they would never be able to see their children’s face again.
In the sting operation video, it is shown that despite the orders of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) for handing over the custody of the juveniles to their parents and possession of relevant documents for completing the custody formalities, two fathers of juveniles were forced to run from pillar to post to seek custody of their children and coerced to pay bribes.
