Health inspector flushes ₹10,000 bribe down toilet; arrested as Vigilance officials recover cash from pipe
A Public Health Inspector was arrested for accepting a ₹10,000 bribe for hotel licences, attempting to flush the money away, but it was later recovered from a toilet pipe.
A Public Health Inspector was arrested for accepting a ₹10,000 bribe for hotel licences, attempting to flush the money away, but it was later recovered from a toilet pipe.
A Public Health Inspector was arrested for accepting a ₹10,000 bribe for hotel licences, attempting to flush the money away, but it was later recovered from a toilet pipe.
Malappuram: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested a Grade II Public Health Inspector of Tirurangadi Municipality for allegedly accepting a ₹10,000 bribe to issue licences for a newly opened hotel and juice stall. The official flushed the cash down a toilet after realising that the Vigilance team had arrived. The money was later recovered from the toilet pipe.
The accused has been identified as Sreeji G S, a native of Kattakkada in Thiruvananthapuram. The complainant had applied online for municipal licences for a hotel and juice stall on the Chemmad-Kodinhi Road. The applications were returned citing issues with the documents, following which she approached Sreeji through a friend. He allegedly demanded ₹10,000 to facilitate the licences.
The complainant subsequently informed the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the Malappuram Vigilance Unit. Based on his instructions, the Vigilance team laid a trap. Around 6.45 pm on October 1, Sreeji accepted the ₹10,000 from the complainant at the rented room where he was staying in Parappanangadi.
The complainant then left the building as the Vigilance team instructed. When the officials reached Sreeji's room and knocked on the door, he flushed the bribe money down the toilet. Sreeji initially gave contradictory answers when questioned about the cash. The Vigilance team searched his room and the overgrown plot behind the building for several hours. During further questioning, he admitted that he had flushed the money.
The officials then dismantled the toilet in his presence and pumped high-pressure water through the pipe. Officials recovered the ₹10,000 after finding it stuck in bends in the pipe.
Sreeji was produced before the Vigilance Court in Kozhikode and remanded. Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham IPS urged the public to report corruption-related information through the toll-free number 1064, phone number 8592900900 or WhatsApp number 9447789100.