Kozhikode (Kerala) | A court here has sentenced a village assistant to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment for siphoning off tax money by forging documents and making false entries in official records, the VACB said on Saturday.

The Vigilance Court on Friday found K Siyad, a former village assistant at the Kannur-I Village Office and currently serving at the Tirur Village Office in Malappuram district, guilty of misappropriating tax revenue due to the government, the VACB said.

According to the prosecution, while serving as a village assistant at the Kannur-I Village Office, Siyad made false entries in village office registers and fabricated documents, thereby misappropriating Rs 1,62,450 payable to the government as tax.

Based on the findings, the Kozhikode Vigilance Court awarded him a total of 14 years of rigorous imprisonment under various sections and imposed a fine of Rs 2.80 lakh, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau said.

Following the conviction, the accused, a native of Thana in Kannur district, was shifted to the Kannur Central Jail.

The verdict was pronounced by Kozhikode Vigilance Court Judge K Ramakrishnan.

Public Prosecutor Usha Kumari K appeared on behalf of the VACB.