Thane: FIR against govt hospital RMO for bribery case

An FIR has been registered against a woman resident medical officer (RMO) of a government hospital in Maharashtra’s Thane district for allegedly seeking bribe from an official of a private hospital to refer patients there, police said.

The private hospital in Ambernath area was registered on the panel of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) to treat patients, an official from Shivaji Nagar police station said.

The RMO of the ESIS (Employees’ State Insurance Scheme) hospital in Ulhasnagar allegedly demanded and accepted a sum of Rs 40,000 in 2022 from the private hospital’s administrator for referring patients there for treatment and issuance of a referral form (permission letter) to patients, he said.

She allegedly made an additional demand of Rs 1.50 lakh from the hospital’s administrator in March this year, as per the FIR. The administrator subsequently registered a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) following which the FIR was registered against the RMO on June 1 under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the official said.