Coimbatore: Fire department official arrested for accepting bribe to provide permit for cracker shop.
Coimbatore: Fire department official arrested for accepting bribe to provide permit for cracker shop.
Many people set shops up to sell firecrackers in Tamil Nadu during the Diwali season. There are various regulations for setting up a firecracker shop. The applicants have to pay Rs. 500 in the corporation treasury, Rs. 300 rupees for garbage collection and Rs. 750 for business tax.
These documents will then be sent to the Commissioner of Police by the applicants who wish to sell firecrackers. Later, officers from various departments conduct inspections to process the license.
Madanavel from Kuniyamuthur area has applied for permission to sell firecrackers on Diwali which falls on November 14. Sasikumar, an officer of the Coimbatore South Fire Department, is said to have asked for a bribe of Rs 6,000 to provide a permit. Following this, Madanavel lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Department.
The Vigilance officials handed money marked with chemical compounds to Madanavel. Vigilance department DSP Ganesh secretly watched as Sasikumar, the fire department official received the money. They then confiscated the money and arrested Sasikumar for accepting bribes. The case is being investigated further.