Vigilance and Anti-Corruption sleuths have arrested a village administrative officer while taking bribe on Tuesday.

Sources in the vigilance and anti-corruption wing said S. Kumaravel, 52, of Kalingapatti in Veerakeralampudur taluk approached Padmavathi, Village Administrative Officer of Rajagopalaperi, on January 6 for transferring the name in the patta of the house of his father Subbiah. She asked Kumaravel to submit the application for name transfer through e-seva centre and he submitted the application on the same day.

When he went to the VAO’s office on January 8 and informed Padmavathi that he had applied for ‘patta’ name transfer, she asked him to submit the copies of the application and other allied documents. He handed over the copies of the documents to the VAO, who asked Mr. Kumaravel to give ₹10,000 as bribe.

Following repeated bargaining, Padmavathi finally agreed to do her duty if ₹4,500 was given as bribe.

Upset over this, Kumaravel filed a complaint with the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption wing. Led by Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Paul Sudhar, Inspector Jayashree and Sub-Inspector Ravi trapped Padmavathi as she took the bribe from Kumaravel on Tuesday.

Further investigations are on.