V Suresh Kumar, a village field assistant in Palakkayam village of Kerala’s Palakkad district, was arrested for taking bribes by Vigilance officials on Tuesday, May 23. Money taken in bribes to the tune of Rs 1 crore was recovered from him by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) officers. While Suresh was caught red-handed taking Rs 2500 in bribe from a person at a revenue adalat in Mannarkkad, it was a search at his rented room that revealed the cash and deposit documents worth over a crore.
The DVAC had received a complaint from a person that Suresh had demanded a bribe for the third time, following which officers were on the watch during the revenue adalat on Tuesday. However, they had not anticipated recovering a sum as large as Rs 1 crore from his possession.
Speaking to TNM, Palakkad Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) S Shamsudeen said, “Around Rs 35 lakhs cash, Rs 45 lakhs in fixed deposits and bonds, and Rs 25 lakhs in savings bank account was seized by the team upon raiding his house.” Reports also stated that other properties, including 10 brand new shirts, sacks of tamarind, 10 litre of honey, bundles of pens, and other items were seized from his room.
Suresh has been working as a field assistant in the village offices in Mannarkkad since 2001. According to a report in The New Indian Express, the complainant was a person from Manjeri village who had 45 acres of land and sought a location certificate from the village office, towards which Suresh demanded a bribe of Rs 2,500. Earlier, the same person had paid bribes on two occasions — Rs 10,000 and Rs 9,000 each for obtaining two other certificates. A report by Manorama News said that he had been saving the money to construct a house in Thiruvananthapuram as part of his retirement plan and to provide some money to his sister.
Suresh has been arrested and booked under section 7A (taking undue advantage to influence public servants by corrupt or illegal means or by exercise of personal influence) of The Prevention of Corruption Act.