Vet gets four years in jail for taking bribe from farmer

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Rajiv.Kalkod@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:

02.02.2022

A special court in Tumakuru on Wednesday held a 59-year-old veterinary doctor attached to Tumakuru Cooperative Milk Producers’ Societies Union guilty of accepting bribe from a farmer. YL Devaraju, a resident of Tumakuru, was sentenced to four years’ simple imprisonment and fined Rs10,000.

The order was passed by judge S Sudhindranath, who directed Devaraju to undergo simple imprisonment of another two months if he fails to pay the fine.

The doctor, who was out on bail, has been taken to Tumakuru district prison.

He was trapped by ACB sleuths while accepting the bribe on June 6, 2018. “A farmer from Mavinakere in Tumakuru district had lost his cow to a disease in February 2018. He had insured the animal and approached Devaraju for a death certificate. As a rule, insurance companies hand over the compensation cheque to the doctor who certifies the death and issues the certificate,” public prosecutor N Basavaraju said.

Devaraju allegedly demanded a bribe from the farmer and took Rs 12,000 in instalments. “By then, the insurance company released a cheque for Rs 50,000. It was handed over to Devaraju, who again demanded Rs 3,000 to pass it on. Not willing to pay the bribe, the farmer filed a complaint with the Tumakuru ACB unit. The doctor was trapped while accepting Rs 3,000,” Basavaraju said.

This is the fourth conviction order passed by special court judge Sudhindranath since August.