Vigilance officials arrested a panchayat official at Kottukal in Neyyattinkara on Wednesday for allegedly collecting a bribe from a person who had applied for a license renewal.
A team led by Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB), Thiruvananthapuram, southern range DySP Anil V. caught M. Sreekumar, section clerk at the Kottukal grama panchayat office, red-handed while receiving ₹10,000 from Kalliyoor native Suresh who had sought a renewal of license for a homestay he ran at Azhimala.
Mr. Suresh had taken two floors of a three-storied building at Azhimala on lease in 2019 to operate the homestay. However, he could not launch his business owing to the pandemic-induced lockdown. He had applied for a license renewal at the panchayat office on March 18.
The accused, who inspected the homestay the next day, allegedly demanded a payment of ₹25,000, of which the first installment of ₹10,000 was to be paid immediately. After alerting VACB Thiruvananthapuram southern range Superintendent of Police R. Jayasankar, he handed over the amount to Sreekumar in his car. The panchayat official was caught during the planned operation.
