K. Vinod, a former village officer of New Naduvil village in Kannur district, was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment by the Thalassery Vigilance Court on Thursday (March 20) for accepting a bribe of ₹2,000. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on him.
Vinod, now serving as the village officer at Mannoorkara in Thiruvananthapuram district, had demanded ₹5,000 from a complainant to process land tax registration in the name of his father. He received ₹3,000 as an initial payment and was caught accepting the remaining ₹2,000 in a trap set by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau on March 25, 2014.
Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance) K. Ramakrishnan ruled that the sentences under different sections would run concurrently. Vigilance public prosecutor K. Ushakumari appeared for the prosecution. Following the judgment, Vinod was remanded and sent to jail.
Bribery, including taking money for government services or facilitating transactions through officials, falls within the ambit of corruption, the court observed.
Published – March 20, 2025 11:34 pm IST
