Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 31 (PTI) The vigilance officials on Friday arrested a village assistant attached to the Muttathara Village Office here for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 to expedite the processing of an application for land conversion, officials said.
The arrested official was identified as Asaruddeen S Z (37), a native of Nettirachira in Nedumangad and serving as Village Assistant at the Muttathara Village Office.
According to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), the complainant, a resident of Vallakkadavu, had submitted an online application seeking conversion of three cents of land recorded as paddy land in revenue records to facilitate the construction of a house.
When the complainant later visited the village office to enquire about the pending application, the village assistant allegedly asked him to return on another day, officials said.
On July 30, the accused allegedly inspected the property and told the complainant that the process would be delayed unless he paid a bribe of Rs 5,000 for expediting the application, VACB said.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the VACB, following which officials of the Thiruvananthapuram South Range laid a trap.
The accused was caught red-handed while allegedly accepting the bribe from the complainant at the Muttathara Village Office on Friday evening.
The accused will be produced before the Vigilance Court in Thiruvananthapuram, officials said. PTI TBA TBA KH
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