Rs 20,000 bribe: Former medical college superintendent arrested

THRISSUR: Vigilance has arrested Dr K Balagopal, a former superintendent and head of the orthopedic department at Mulankunnathukavu Government Medical College in Thrissur, while accepting a bribe from a patient's son for performing surgery. The doctor demanded Rs 20,000 for performing knee surgery on an elderly man from Ponnani.

The elderly man has been undergoing treatment at the Medical College Hospital for a month after the surgery. Meanwhile, a bribe was demanded. The information was reported to Vigilance. At their suggestion, they went to the doctor's residence in Viyyur and handed over the money. Vigilance DySP PS Suresh and his team then grabbed the doctor by the hand. He was produced in court and remanded. There have been more than three vigilance cases against the doctor in the past in connection with bribery.