Alappuzha: Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) sleuths on Tuesday arrested two employees of the Punnapra village office here over bribery charges. The accused -- Village Assistant Vinod and Village Field Assistant Ashokan -- were caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from an individual who had applied to convert the status of his property, officials said.

The complainant submitted an application with the Punnapra village office in August 2023. Vinod and Ashokan reached the location to measure the property and sought a bribe of Rs 5,000 to forward the file to the Revenue Divisional Office. Following this, the applicant approached VACB Superintendent (East Zone) V G Vinod Kumar with a complaint.

Acting on the officer’s direction, a team led by VACB Deputy Police Superintendent Gireesh P Sarathy, planned a scenario to catch the duo in the act. Ashokan was caught accepting the bribe around 3.20 pm on Tuesday. Based on his statement, the sleuths recorded the arrest of Vinod as well. The accused will be produced in the Kottayam Vigilance Court.