Clerk caught red-handed while accepting bribe

PALLURUTHY: Vigilance officials arrested a clerk of the Kochi Corporation’s Palluruthy zonal revenue department while he was accepting a bribe. The accused has been identified as S.S. Prakash (30), a native of Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram.

According to officials, Prakash had demanded Rs 2 lakh from advocate Rohith, a native of Palluruthy, to clear irregularities in the building permit of his newly completed two-storey house. As the first instalment, he asked for Rs 50,000, but finally agreed to accept Rs 25,000. Rohith then informed the Vigilance about the demand.

Following this, Vigilance officers prepared trap money coated with phenolphthalein powder and sent the complainant to hand it over. Soon after Prakash received the cash, the team caught him.

The operation was carried out by a Vigilance unit under the direction of Central Range SP PN Ramesh Kumar. The team was led by DySPs KA Thomas and G Sunil Kumar, along with Inspectors R Madhu, M Manu, A Firoz, and NA Anoop.