Rs 200 bribe leads to 3-year jail term

A ministerial staff of the Coimbatore District Police has been sentenced to three years in jail for demanding Rs 200 bribe from an auto driver.

B Sunil Kumar, a native of Palakkad working as an assistant, had demanded the amount from auto driver Abdullah to forward the papers in relation to a case against him. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption had booked Kumar in 2005 after he was caught red handed. Abdullah’s vehicle was seized by the transport officials after he was found not possessing registration certificate.

The transport officials had forwarded the notice to the Coimbatore Police as the police were supposed to register a case. The violator could pay the fine in court and retrieve his vehicle only after the police filed a charge sheet against him. However, Sunil Kumar, who was then working in the G3 section of the district police office, was delaying the process by not forwarding the papers.

When Abdullah requested him to forward the papers, Sunil Kumar had demanded Rs 200. “Following this, Abdullah filed a complaint with us. We gave him chemical coated currencies and asked him to hand it over it to the accused to trap him. The accused accepted the money and immediately handed over the papers to the complainant, directing him to produce it in the police station concerned,” said investigating officer, inspector Unnikrishanan.

Delivering judgement in the seven-year-old case on Tuesday, vigilance special court judge Elango held Sunil Kumar guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act and sentenced him to three years in jail and Rs 5,000 fine.