Official held while receiving bribe

Thiruvananthapuram: An official of Umayannoor panchayat in Kollam district was arrested by the

Vigilance

and Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on Thursday while receiving a

bribe

of Rs 1,000 from a dairy farmer. Grade III overseer Raju Ramachandran is the official who was arrested.

The VACB official said that the

arrest

was made based on a complaint filed by Jose Thomas, a dairy farmer based at Kottarakkara in Kollam district.

Jose Thomas alleged in his complaint that Raju Ramchandran had demanded bribes to release a fund of Rs 27,000 sanctioned by the panchayat to construct a cattle shed on his house premises.

Jose Thomas promptly informed the VACB officials about this.

The officials laid a trap and used the complainant to summon the accused to a resort in Kollam city to pay the amount.

Raju Ramachandran turned up at the resort at 4.30 pm on Thursday. When he received the money from the complainant, the Vigilanceand Anti-Corruption officials came out and took the accused into custody.

The team that made the arrest comprises Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau Kollam unit DSP Abdul Vahab, inspectors Joshi and Sudeesh and sub inspectors Hareesh, Sunil and Philipose.

The officials said that the arrested accused would be produced before the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance special court on Saturday.