Ex-KWA engineer gets 5-year jail term in graft case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vigilance Court, Thiruvananthapuram, has sentenced a former KWA executive engineer for five years rigorous imprisonment in a graft case. John Koshy, who was an executive engineer in the KWA Thiruvananthapuram Public Health (North) division, was found guilty of accepting Rs 25,000 as bribe for sanctioning bills of a contractor, who had undertaken relaying of 110 mm AC pipes from Chekkalamukku to Society Mukku in 2017-18 period. When the contractor approached the accused to get his bills passed after completion of the work, John demanded the bribe. Since he refused to comply, the bill was kept pending for 16 months. Though the contractor complained to senior officials, the deadlock persisted following which he took the legal route. He knocked the High Court door and got a favourable verdict. However, John refused to pass the bill despite the court order and the contractor filed a complaint for contempt of court. John then sanctioned the bill, but again insisted on kickback. The contractor tipped off the Vigilance and they arrested John when he was receiving Rs 25,000 as bribe. Vigilance judge Manoj A also directed John to pay a fine of Rs 75,000. The convict was shifted to Thiruvananthapuram central prison. Public prosecutor Veena Satheesan appeared for the Vigilance.