Two ex-Fisheries Dept staff get 9-year jail term

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two former Fisheries department staffers were on Thursday sentenced to nine years of imprisonment for defrauding cooperative banks by taking loan after submitting fake encumbrance certificates. Former UD clerk Jenson J Andrews and former peon Hemachandran, who had worked at the Fisheries Deputy Director’s Office in Kamaleswaram here were awarded the punishment by Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court in a case that was registered in 2006. 

The case was that former Fisheries Assistant Director Subhash Chandra Mohan and Jenson helped Hemachandran obtained loans from Peroorkada and Kilimanoor cooperative banks using fake encumbrance certificates. Claiming that he was working as a clerk, Hemachandran used the forged documents to take loans of Rs 1 lakh from each bank. 

Subhash, who was the first accused, died during the trial. The accused were found guilty on four counts, each carrying two years of imprisonment. They were also found guilty of using forged documents that invited another one-year prison term. However, the sentence will run concurrently.