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Grama panchayat secretary held

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested Maradu grama panchayat secretary M. Mohammed Ashraf on Tuesday morning on the charge of accepting Rs.12,000 as bribe to give sanction for building a house.

This followed a complaint by Anil Kumar of Netoor that Ashraf demanded the amount as bribe for granting sanction to build a 4,000-square-feet house in Netoor for Mr. Anil's Hong Kong-based friend, Suresh Menon. Ashraf was caught red-handed by a team led by Vigilance Dy.SP. T.U. Joseph. The team also seized unaccounted money to the tune of Rs.62,000 from his personal bag.

The case is that the panchayat secretary demanded Rs.20,000 as bribe (at the rate of Rs.5 per square feet), when Mr. Anil approached him. He settled for Rs.12,000 on Monday, following which the complainant approached the Vigilance. Ashraf has been remanded to judicial custody by the Vigilance Court, Thrissur.

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