Officials of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Saturday arrested an employee of the Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Kottayam, on bribery charges. The accused was identified as C.J. Elsy (48), a native of Arpookara near here.
Officials said the accused had accepted ₹15,000 as bribe from a student who had completed MBA from a college affiliated to the university in order to issue a provisional certificate along with the mark list. Though the accused had demanded ₹50,000, she later agreed on ₹30,000. However, the accused insisted on paying the first installment of ₹15,000 by Saturday.
Acting on a complaint lodged by the student, the VACB laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed from the varsity on Saturday afternoon while receiving the bribe. Preliminary investigations suggested that the accused had also received ₹1.25 lakh from the complainant earlier in different installments.
According to officials, the complainant, a native of Pathanamthitta, had completed her MBA in 2016 but passed the subjects through supplementary examinations held in subsequent years. Though she had originally passed her final examination written in September last year, the accused declared the result as failed and sought the bribe.
The accused will be produced in the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court on Sunday.
The Mahatma Gandhi University Employees Association has sought a detailed investigation into the incident and stern action against corrupt officials.
