Sericulture official gets 1 yr rigorous imprisonment in graft case

Four years after Lokayukta police caught a senior official on charges of demanding bribe, he was sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment. The third district special court of Mysore awarded the punishment to assistant director, sericulture department, Nanjangud division, BN Shantamalleshappa.

Besides rigorous imprisonment, he has been asked to pay a fine of Rs15,000 or put up with six months of simple imprisonment.

A sericulture promoter, Basavaraju, had filed the case against Shantamalleshappa in 2008. Basavaraju, after he was transferred out of sericulture department in 2008, quit his job. He was due to get Rs57,181 from sericulture department as arrears and other benefits. After waiting for long, he approached Shantamalleshappa, who asked him to pay Rs3,000 to forward his file.

Basavaraju paid the amount on August 14, 2008, but Shantamalleshappa demanded another Rs2,000. Basavaraju then approached Lokayukta police inspector D Jayaram, who nabbed Shantamalleshappa on charges of bribery.