KOCHI: Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Friday arrested a civil police officer (CPO) for accepting bribe as part of passport verification at Varapuzha. The arrested is Eldho Paul, CPO of Varapuzha police station. He was caught accepting Rs 500 as a bribe.
According to S Sasidharan, SP, VACB Ernakulam, Eldho was under surveillance for the past several months. “Numerous persons had passed on information to us that Eldho demanded bribe from them for completing passport verification.
Many of them could not file a complaint as they travelled abroad. However, recently, the complainant in the case told us that Eldho had contacted him over the phone and directed him to meet him at Chettibagham market in Varapuzha. Eldho also sought a bribe of Rs 500 for the passport verification,” Sasidharan said.
Based on the information, VACB laid a trap and caught Eldho while he was accepting Rs 500 as a bribe from the complainant at Chettibagham. After the arrest, Eldho was shifted to the VACB office. He will be produced before the court on Saturday as part of the remand procedure. VACB has found that the Eldho took amounts ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 from passport applicants.
“He took Rs 1,000 from people who were in urgent requirement of a passport for going abroad. We have come to know that Eldho was transferred to Varapuzha police station as part of a disciplinary action. We will check his service record as part of the probe,” Sasidharan said.