A fire service officer Was on Tuesday sentenced to nine-year imprisonment by a court here for demanding and accepting bribe from a school for issuing a no objection certificate in the aftermath of the 2005 Kumbakonam school fire tragedy that left 94 children dead.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Nallathambi ordered the officer, Karunanidhi, also to pay a fine of Rs 5,000.
Prosecution submitted that in the aftermath of Kumbakonam fire tragedy which brought safety aspects to fore, the government directed the school managements to obtain fire safety and no objection certificates from the Fire and Rescue
services Department.
Karunanidhi, a fire service officer at Sirkazhi, demanded a bribe of Rs 2,000 from Natanasigamani, Correspondent (administrator) of a primary school in Bagasalai village for
issuing the NOC.
Natanasigamani informed vigilance police. In a trap laid by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) sleuths, Karunanidhi was caught accepting the bribe on September 3, 2005 and arrested.