DVAC nabs Tahsildar in Salem for bribery

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) sleuths arrested a Tahsildar for bribery in the district on Thursday.

N. Manjula (47), a resident of Selvam Nagar near Thammampatti, approached Gangavalli Tahsildar Balakrishnan to remove an encroachment near her farmland, stating a direction from the Madras High Court. But the Tahsildar demanded ₹5 lakh and asked for an advance on Wednesday.

Unwilling to give a bribe, Ms. Manjula approached Salem DVAC, based on whose instructions, she handed over ₹10,000 to the Tahsildar on Wednesday. DVAC officials hiding in the Gangavalli Taluk office caught the Tahsildar red-handed. DVAC officials later searched the office till midnight and after that, the officials searched the Tahsildar’s house for more than three hours. Later in the early hours of Thursday, the Tahsildar was remanded in prison.