A court here has sentenced an assistant director of factories to four years in prison and slapped on him a fine of Rs 4 lakh for accepting bribes from the owners of factories. H Suresh, who was previously serving as an assistant director of factories in the sub divisional office-II at Kottara in the city and presently working in Mysuru, is the convicted official.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had conducted raids at his office and residence in 2016, based on a complaint from G Hanumanth Kamath of Nagarika Hitarakshan Samiti that Suresh was accepting bribes for providing licence, renewal of licence and issuing no objection certificates to the owners of factories while he was working in Mangaluru.
The ACB had recovered Rs 3,49,515 from his possession during the raids. A case in this connection was registered on November 30, 2016. The third additional district and sessions court judge B B Jakati, in his order on Saturday, sentenced the official to four years simple imprisonment and imposed Rs 4 lakh fine on him. He will have to undergo additional six months in jail if he fails to pay the fine.
The then police inspector of Mangaluru ACB Yogish Kumar had investigated the case and submitted the charge sheet in 2017. Lokayukta special public prosecutor Ravindra Munnipadi appeared for the prosecution.
(With PTI inputs)
