Sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Wednesday arrested the panchayat secretary of Kondaiyampalayam village in Coimbatore district on the charge of demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹10,000 from a man, who applied for the regularisation of unapproved house plots.The arrested has been identified as Muthusamy.DVAC officials said that M. Victorraj from Anna Nagar at Kottaipalayam near Annur had given applications to Muthusamy for the regularisation of two unapproved house plots of four and two cents belonging to his mother-in-law and wife. Based on the application submitted on May 14 this year, Muthusamy inspected the lands and recommend the files to the Block Developmental Officer (BDO), Sarkar Samakulam block, for regularisation.According to the DVAC, the BDO issued regularisation orders for the two plots and the documents were in Muthusamy’s custody. The panchayat secretary demanded ₹12,000 as bribe from Mr. Victorraj to release the documents. The officer later reduced the bribe amount to ₹10,000.Unwilling to oblige to the demand, Mr. Victorraj approached the DVAC Coimbatore unit, which organised a trap. The complainant visited the panchayat office on Wednesday when Muthusamy reiterated his demand for bribe.The DVAC sleuths caught Muthusamy in the act when he accepted the bribe from the complainant. He was arrested and sent to judicial remand. Published - September 10, 2025 11:08 pm IST