The Principal District and Sessions Court here has awarded two years’ imprisonment to a person who was working as gram panchayat secretary and was trapped by the Lokayukta police while accepting a bribe.
Nagaraj, a resident of Sanklapura village in Baganakatte Gram Panchayat limits in Shikaripur, had submitted an application to the office of the gram panchayat for the transfer of the khata related to a site owned by his family in 2008. The Lokayukta police said that H.N. Umeshappa, panchayat secretary, demanded Rs. 5,000 as bribe from the applicant.
Nagaraj lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta police. The police caught Umeshappa while he was receiving Rs. 2,500 in Shikaripur town. They booked a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against him.
The court held him guilty and sentenced him to imprisonment for two years and also slapped Rs. 25,000 as fine on him.
