A Village Officer here was arrested by Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) personnel while accepting bribe at his office here on Tuesday.
K.V. Shaju, Village Officer at the Kannur Village Office – 2, was arrested by the VACB officials as he accepted the chemically treated currency notes at 1.30 p.m. from the complainant identified as P.V. Chandran. The bribe given was Rs.1,000, the VACB officials said.
According to the officials, a trap was set up for the Village Officer following a complaint from Mr. Chandran. The latter had gone to the Village Office for remitting land tax for 88 cents of family plot allotted to him and others in the family, following a partition and a civil dispute.
When the officer demanded Rs.10,000 as bribe for accepting the land tax, one of the co-owners of the property gave him Rs.8,000. Later Mr. Chandran also paid Rs.1,000 as bribe to the officer, who still refused to accept the land tax, demanding the balance amount of Rs.1,000.
It was after this that Mr. Chandran complained to the VACB and a trap was set. The VACB officials said as soon as the Village Officer was handed over the chemically coated currency as bribe, receipt accepting the land tax for the plot was issued to the complainant.
Soon after, the VACB sleuths arrested him and seized the currency.
