Thodupuzha : Muvattupuzha vigilance court has sentenced a former senior clerk of Idukki district scheduled caste office to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh in a bribery case. The court found Rashid K Panakkal, 50, a native of Idavetti in Idukki, guilty of accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000 in connection with the disbursement of a post-matric scholarship for the complainant’s daughter.
It was alleged that Rashid had accepted bribes from the complainant in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, he allegedly demanded Rs 40,000 as a bribe from the instalment of scholarship money sanctioned that year. While accepting Rs 25,000 as the first instalment of the alleged bribe, he was caught red-handed by the vigilance team.
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Rashid allegedly convinced the complainant that he could use his influence to speed up the procedures for releasing the scholarship amount and demanded money in return, according to the prosecution. He is currently serving as a senior clerk at Thiruvananthapuram district scheduled caste office. Muvattupuzha vigilance court judge G Rajesh pronounced the verdict. The case was investigated by former Idukki vigilance unit deputy superintendents of police V R Ravikumar and Shaju Jose, and police inspectors Vinod C, Tipson Thomas and Shinto P Kurien. Vigilance public prosecutors Saritha V A and Divya P S appeared for the prosecution. Download the TOI App.