Bribe for fitness certificate: Assistant engineer and contractor arrested; Thodupuzha Municipal Chairman second accused

THODUPUZHA: Assistant engineer CT Aji of Thodupuzha municipality and intermediary contractor Roshan Sargam were arrested by vigilance while accepting a bribe of one lakh rupees to issue a fitness certificate for a private school building. Municipal Chairman Saneesh George was made the second accused for inciting to pay bribe. He was not arrested. Saneesh, an independent member, became the chairman with LDF support.

The bribe was asked for the fitness certificate of Thodupuzha Kombankallu BTM LP School. The assistant engineer had inspected the application made by the school administrator Ismail a month ago, but no action was taken. Meanwhile, Chairman Saneesh George told the administrator that he will get the fitness certificate only if the assistant engineer is bribed.

The assistant engineer, who demanded one lakh rupees, was not ready to compromise. The vigilance was informed. The currency given by the vigilance was handed over to the contractor by the school administrator at 4 pm today at the municipal office. He was then caught handing over this money to the assistant engineer.