Cops held for receiving bribe

Coimbatore: Sleuths of the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) on Thursday arrested a police sub-inspector and a constable for accepting Rs 6,000 from a man for not booking a case of drunk driving.

The arrested people were identified as A Maruthaiah Pandi, 54, and S Sakthivel, a constable attached to the traffic police station at Sulur.

The cops had intercepted Murugan, a wall painter and a native of Dharmapuri, when he was returning to Kalapatti on a motorcycle on January 31. As Murugan was drunk, they seized the motorcycle and demanded Rs 12,000 for not registering a case. When Murugan expressed inability to pay the bribe, the cops agreed to let him go if he pays 6,000.

Murugan informed DVAC DSP T H Ganesh, who laid a trap. Preliminary inquiry revealed that the SI did not register a case, but kept the motorcycle in a private parking facility.

On Thursday afternoon, when Murugan handed over currency notes laced with chemical powder to Pandi and Sakthivel, DVAC sleuths in plainclothes caught them read-handed. They were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. tnn