TIRUCHY: A Tiruchy court on Thursday sentenced a former police head constable to three years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 in 2009.

The verdict was delivered by Judge V Puviyarasu of the Tiruchy Special Court for Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) cases after completion of witness examination. Ramasamy, the accused, was found guilty in the case.

According to the prosecution, the complainant, Gunasekaran, son of Murugaiya, ran a finance firm on Navalpattu Road in Thiruverumbur. On June 12, 2009, he was summoned to the Trichy Boiler Plant police station, where Ramasamy, then a police head constable, allegedly told him falsely that an arrest warrant had been issued from Delhi and demanded Rs 10,000 to avoid arrest.

Unwilling to pay the bribe, Gunasekaran complained to the Tiruchy DVAC police on June 13, 2009. Based on the complaint, the then DVAC inspector, Soorakumaran, registered a case and organised a trap by providing chemical-smeared currency notes amounting to Rs 10,000.

When the money was handed over, DVAC officers who were lying in wait caught Ramasamy red-handed with the bribe amount and arrested him. He was later dismissed from service.

The prosecution was conducted by the government special public prosecutor Gopikannan.