COIMBATORE: Sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Saturday arrested the station fire officer (SFO) of Coimbatore South fire station while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000 from a man for issuing a no-objection certificate to set up a temporary cracker shop ahead of Diwali.
N Madanavel, 42, a medical representative from Kuniyamuthur, planned to set up a temporary cracker shop at Madukkarai. He identified a private building to set up the shop and paid the amount for the place in advance.
He applied for a temporary licence. A station fire officer from the fire and rescue services department has to visit the spot and give a no-objection certificate (NOC).
Station fire officer B Sasikumar, 57, demanded Rs 15,000 as bribe to issue the NOC. But Madanavel said he could not pay that much. Later, the SFO demanded Rs 10,000, and finally Madanavel agreed to pay a bribe of Rs 6,000.
Madanavel approached DVAC deputy superintendent of police (DSP) T H Ganesh who laid a trap. The currency notes were laced with phenolphthalein powder, and Madanavel handed them over to the SFO around 11.30 am on Saturday.
DVAC sleuths caught Sasikumar red-handed and seized Rs 6,000 in cash from him. They registered a case against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
On Friday evening, DVAC officials conducted a surprise check at the office of the assistant executive engineer (Tangedco) at Rakkiyapalayam in Tirupur city. They seized Rs 2,01,396 unaccounted money from assistant executive engineer KR Giri. The DVAC officials registered a case against Giri under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.