Panchayat clerk held for graft

DVAC sleuths on Saturday arrested a Panchayat clerk for accepting a bribe of Rs 12,000 to sanction an approval for a building, in Pudukkottai.

According to the DVAC, Velankanni, a Melappannai resident, wanted to construct a house in the locality and had applied for an approval. However, it was delayed without any reason. Therefore, Velankanni approached P Rajendran (47), a Panchayat clerk in Kunnathur village, Viralimalai block, who demanded a bribe of Rs 12,000 from him for the approval.

Unwilling to bribe the clerk, he lodged a complaint with the DVAC, following which, a team led by Deputy SP Manikandan caught Rajendran red-handed while he was accepting the bribe from Velankanni. The bribe amount was recovered from him and he was arrested.