Thrissur (Kerala) | A court on Saturday sentenced a former assistant engineer of the KSEB to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 after finding him guilty in a bribery case.

Vigilance Court Judge K M Ratheesh found K Sasi, 65, a native of Thazhava in Kollam district and a former assistant engineer at the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) office in Kunnamkulam, guilty of accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 for sanctioning an additional power load connection to a commercial building.

According to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), the case dates back to 2014 when a building owner from Chavakkad approached the Kunnamkulam KSEB office seeking approval for an enhanced electricity load connection for a private banking institution functioning in his building.

During the processing of the application, Sasi allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the complainant for granting the connection.

Acting on a complaint, officials of the VACB's Thrissur unit laid a trap and caught Sasi red-handed while accepting the bribe amount from the complainant.

The investigation was conducted by former VACB Deputy Superintendent of Police A Ramachandran and Jyothish Kumar, who was then Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Thrissur Vigilance Unit.

Public Prosecutor V K Shelajan appeared for the prosecution.

Following the conviction, Sasi was remanded to Viyyur Central Prison to serve the sentence.