TIRUPUR: Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) sleuths on Tuesday arrested a village administrative officer (VAO) in Tirupur district while accepting a bribe of ₹20,000 from a farmer for sub-division of agricultural land and facilitating a patta name transfer.The arrested official was identified as Arunkumar, the VAO of Veeracholapuram in Vellakovil firka under Kangayam taluk.According to DVAC officials, the complainant, Ramasamy, had approached the Veeracholapuram village administrative office seeking sub-division of his agricultural land and the subsequent transfer of patta. The VAO allegedly demanded ₹40,000 as a bribe to process the paperwork.Ramasamy paid an advance of ₹10,000 to the VAO on Aug 26. However, unwilling to pay the remaining amount, he lodged a formal complaint with the Tirupur detachment of the DVAC.Following this, the anti-corruption unit registered a case and laid a trap on Tuesday. During the operation, DVAC officers caught Arunkumar red-handed while accepting ₹20,000 from the complainant.The vigilance team arrested the VAO and seized the tainted currency notes. He was remanded in judicial custody.
