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.
