The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (VACB) Idukki unit on Tuesday arrested a former block development officer of Devikulam who had been convicted in a bribery case but had been absconding to evade imprisonment.

M.G. Ajayakumar, 68, a native of Amaravila in Thiruvananthapuram, had been absconding, refusing to appear before the vigilance court, after his appeal against his conviction in the bribery case had been rejected by both the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court.

The case dates back to 2013. The VACB had caught Ajayakumar, who was the Devikulam block development officer, red-handed when he was accepting a bribe of ₹5,000 that he had demanded for the release of the last instalment of funds sanctioned under a housing scheme. The arrest was following a complaint by a resident of Pooppara, Idukki

In 2017, the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court had found Ajayakumar guilty and had sentenced him to a year’s rigorous imprisonment and had imposed a fine of ₹20,000.

Ajayakumar went on to appeal against this verdict in the High Court, which upheld his conviction. He then approached the Supreme Court by filing a Special Leave Petition, but the apex court refused to consider his petition.

Instead of appearing before the vigilance court to serve the sentence, Ajayakumar then went absconding. The VACB arrested him on Tuesday morning from his residence at Amaravila.

He was produced before the Muvattupuzha vigilance court and later remanded to the Viyyur Central Prison.

Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham has appealed to the public to report all information related to corruption through the Vigilance toll-free number 1064, phone number 85929 00900, or the WhatsApp number 94477 89100.