VELLORE: The sleuths of the Vellore unit of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) laid a trap and arrested the Village Administrative Officer(VAO) of Sathuperi on Monday for demanding and accepting bribe.
D Selvam of Sathuperi lodged a complaint with the DVAC against the VAO A Devaprakasam (55), saying that his (Selvam’s) younger brother Selvaraj had sold a piece of their ancestral land, without family’s consent. The land was not partitioned and was under a joint patta in the name of Selvam and his mother Rajamma (70).
Selvam submitted a petition to the VAO on August 7, requesting him not to survey the disputed property as there was a legal suit pending in the Madras High Court regarding the illegal sale.
For this, Devaprakasam demanded `10,000. When Selvam said he was unable to give such a huge amount, the VAO demanded `5,000.
Acting on the complaint from Selvam, the DVAC Additional Superintendent of Police M Balasubramanian and his team laid a trap.
As per the direction of the DVAC men, Selvam contacted the VAO and asked him to come to the premises of the office of Joint Director of Medical Service at Velapadi to hand over the money.
So, when Selvam went there and gave the VAO the amount, the sleuths arrested him and took him to his office and recovered the petition and related documents. “We nabbed the VAO in front of two official witnesses. We conducted a test on the spot and confirmed that the VAO received the chemical-coated currency from Selvam,” said an official.
The police registered a case under the provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act and produced him before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court which remanded him in the Vellore Central Prison for Men.