Bribery: IT officer sentenced to eight and a half years in prison

KOCHI: Income Tax Department official who threatened a hospital owner and demanded a bribe of Rs 10 lakh has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison and a fine of Rs 50,000. Income tax department Investigation Inspector KK Dinesan was convicted by the Kochi CBI Court. He has been sentenced to four years and four-and-a-half years imprisonment under two sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He can serve the punishments together.

Kochi CBI Special Court Judge KK Balakrishnan pronounced the sentence. The accused was caught by the CBI while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from Dr. S Sabine of Muvattupuzha. The incident related to the case was in December 2017. The officer who conducted an inspection had demanded 10 lakhs to not file a case for the irregularities he said to have found.