Assistant engineer held in Trichy for taking ₹5,000 bribe

Trichy: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Wednesday arrested an assistant electrical engineer in Marungapuri for allegedly accepting a ₹5,000 bribe from a farmer seeking a free agricultural electricity connection under a government scheme.The accused, Parthiban, was serving as assistant electrical engineer at the Marungapuri office in Trichy district. DVAC officials said he had initially demanded ₹10,000 from Mariappan, a farmer, to process the free power connection for his agricultural land. The amount was later reduced to ₹5,000. Refusing to pay the bribe, Mariappan lodged a complaint with the DVAC's Trichy unit. A case was registered on March 4, following which a trap was laid under the supervision of deputy superintendent Manikandan, along with inspectors Sakthivel, Xavier Rani and Balamurugan. Parthiban was caught red-handed while receiving the bribe at his office, officials said. Further investigation is under way.