T’puram: A former deputy controller of the legal metrology department in Thiruvananthapuram was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh by a vigilance court on Wednesday for demanding Rs 16,000 and accepting the first instalment of Rs 8,000 as bribe from a fuel station owner.The court found Ajith Kumar B S, 58, of Poovachal, guilty in the case. He was serving as deputy controller at the department’s Pattom office when the offence took place in 2022.According to the vigilance department, the complainant, a native of Muttathara, had approached the office with an application seeking annual stamping of measuring instruments at his fuel station in Akkulam. The procedure was mandatory for the station, and the complainant required the department to complete the stamping and issue the relevant certificate.Kumar allegedly demanded Rs 16,000 to complete the process and issue the certificate. Following the complaint, officials of the Thiruvananthapuram vigilance unit laid a trap and caught him red-handed while accepting Rs 8,000, the first instalment of the bribe amount.The vigilance department subsequently registered a case. Vigilance deputy superintendent of police R Vinod Kumar investigated the case. Public prosecutor Veena Satheesan appeared for the vigilance department during the proceedings.
