CHATTOGRAM:  A Chattogram court on Sunday sentenced 4.5 years imprisonment to a tax officer of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) for taking bribe from a service seeker in 2017.

The Judge Munshi Abdul Majid of Chattogram Special Judge Court also awarded financial penalty of Tk 70,000 and nine more months, in default, to the accused under different sections.

He was the Deputy Taxation Officer of CCC Revenue Circle-3.

According to deposition of the case, the accused Ali Akbar demanded Tk 40,000 as bribe from one Md Jamal Uddin, who went to Akbar to change name of owner of a building and pay holding tax.

Jamal gave Tk 20,000 to Akbar after negotiation.

In the meantime, Jamal made a written complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) regarding the issue on February 6 in 2017.

Then, the ACC officials trapped Akbar and arrested him with the bribe money on the next day.

The accused also threatened Jamal in several ways during the court proceedings, said the ACC Public Prosecutor (PP) Kazi Sanwar Hossain Lavlu.

The court passed the order on Sunday after hearing from 10 witnesses in presence of the accused, said the PP.