Kakanad: An agricultural officer working at Muvattupuzha was arrested on charges of bribery.
M G Joseph, 55, was arrested by Vigilance sleuths at the collectorate here on Thursday afternoon.
According to a vigilance official, the accused demanded Rs 1 lakh as bribe from a person hailing from Muvattupuzha for issuing a certificate to apply for a bank loan. The accused asked the person to handover Rs 50,000 on the collectorate premises. After receiving a complaint, the Vigilance team headed by SP K Karthik laid a trap to nab the accused. As directed by the Vigilance, the complainant handed over Rs 10,000 to the accused, and soon after the money was given, the Vigilance team took Joseph into custody.
A filmy climax
The 20-member Vigilance team came to the collectorate masquerading as labourers and waited for two hours to lay the trap. When the officer was apprehended amidst commotion, the passersby initially thought that the officer was being kidnapped. Later, people gathered around the arrested officer after knowing the reality. Other vigilance officers were on guard waiting in private vehicles on the collectorate premises itself.
The vigilance team included DYSP D Ashok Kumar, Inspector M Surendran, ASIs P B Saly, Jomon Joseph and Prathapachandran; and Special Branch officers L Rajeesh and K K Sunil Kumar, among others.
