A 37-year-old land surveyor attached to Walajah Panchayat Union in Ranipet was arrested by sleuths of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Saturday for demanding and taking a bribe of ₹37,000 from a former army personnel to facilitate a name change in land patta document.
DVAC sources said that the complainant A.K. Karthikeyan, 53, a former army personnel, and his wife K. Poongodi were living in Ammoor village near Walajah town in the district for many years.
In March, Karthikeyan and his wife inherited an acre of farmland and an independent house in the village from his father in-law. As his father in-law died a few weeks later due to old age, Karthikeyan decided to change the name of the property owner in the land document to his name. Subsequently, Karthikeyan applied online for a name change on August 18. Since then, he had been visiting the Walajah panchayat union office for the name change many times.
In September, he was informed by the panchayat union surveyor, K. Chitra, the accused, that he should pay ₹37,000 to get the job done. Chitra has been working in the union office since August. Initially, she demanded ₹50,000 for patta name change. Later, she reduced the amount after coming to know about Karthikeyan’s meagre pension.
Unwilling to pay the bribe, Karthikeyan lodged a complaint with the DVAC. A seven-member team led by S. Ganesh, Deputy SP, DVAC (Arakkonam), laid a trap at the farmland where Chitra came to survey the land and caught her red-handed. A case has been registered and a probe is under way.
Published – September 21, 2025 05:45 am IST
