MADURAI: The Special Court for Trial of Cases under Prevention of Corruption Act in Madurai, on Monday, sentenced a 65-year-old former police inspector to five years of rigorous imprisonment for demanding Rs 3,000 bribe from a man in 2015.
According to an order passed by Special Judge R Barathiraja, complainant S Karthigaiselvan (now deceased) had gone to the T Kallupatti police station in Madurai on January 6, 2015, seeking release of his grandmother's tempo traveller, which was reported missing in January 2014.
Although he produced a copy of an order passed by a lower court in Peraiyur, which directed the release of the vehicle, the then police inspector of T Kallupatti station, PK Pathamuthu, had demanded `5,000 bribe from Karthigaiselvan.
When the latter said he could not afford the amount, Pathamuthu reduced the bribe amount to Rs 3,000. Based on a complaint lodged by Karthigaiselvan, the vigilance officials laid a trap the next day and caught Pathamuthu red-handed, and registered a case against him.
On Monday, Special Judge Barathiraja found him guilty and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment, and imposed a fine of Rs 3,000.