CHENNAI: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) seized Rs 14.50 lakh in unaccounted cash during a surprise raid at the Gerugambakkam Panchayat office near Porur on Tuesday following information that a bribe was to be paid for layout approval. Panchayat president Jagadeeswari was questioned in connection with the case.

According to DVAC officials, the raid was conducted after the agency received a specific tip about the payment of illegal gratification for securing layout approval.

During the search, officials recovered Rs14.50 lakh in unaccounted cash, which was seized for further investigation. Officials are continuing their inquiry to determine whether the seized cash was linked to bribery.

In another case, DVAC Tiruvallur unit arrested Ponneri sub-registrar, Sankar, and two others for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from an individual for releasing the registered document. The complainant, Natarajan approached the DVAC after which a case was registered and a trap was set for Wednesday.

Upon the instructions of Sankar, document writer Ramesh received the bribe amount of Rs 15,000 from the complainant.