The 3rd Additional District and Sessions judge B. Muralidhara Pai on Wednesday sentenced forest guard Manoj Kumar to one year imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹2,000 for accepting bribe of ₹5,000.
According to the chargesheet by Dilip Kumar, the then Lokayukta Police Inspector, Manoj Kumar, who was the forest guard of Veera Khambha in Bantwal, demanded ₹5,000 from Mohammed Musatafah for releasing his tempo carrying wood without registering any case. He was arrested while accepting the money on July 23, 2012.
The judge on Wednesday sentenced Kumar, who is presently forest guard in Vagga in Bantwal, to one year imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹1,000 each for offences under Sections 7 and 13 (1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The accused shall undergo further simple imprisonment of three months each if he failed to pay the fine amount. Both the sentences will run concurrently, the judge said. While granting bail to Kumar to enable him to file an appeal before the High Court, the judge directed him to give an undertaking that he will appear before the court or face the sentence in case he failed to obtain stay order from higher court by December 18.
Special Public Prosecutor K.S.N. Rajesh represented the Karnataka Lokayukta Police.
