DVAC officials on Friday arrested three people, including a Village Administrative Officer (VAO), for demanding a bribe.
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S. Sathish Kumar (35), a farmer residing in Attaiyanur near Harur in Dharmapuri district, approached the H. Agraharam village office seeking individual patta. But V. Venkatesan, the VAO, of Kudimiyampatti, through a broker, Y. Piyorejohn (43), a resident of Keeraipatti, demanded a bribe of ₹12,000 from Sathish for issuing patta. After negotiation, the VAO settled for ₹8,000.
Sathish approached Dharmapuri district DVAC officials, who set a trap for the VAO by handing over currency notes laced with chemicals and asking him to give them to the VAO.
Based on their direction, Mr. Sathish handed over the bribe amount to Piyorejohn at the VAO office on Friday evening. At that time, the DVAC officials caught him redhanded. The DVAC registered a case under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and arrested Venkatesan, his assistant A. Vasudevan (41), a resident of Ponneri and the broker Piyorejohn and remanded them to prison.