Kannur: A Mineral Revenue Inspector attached to the District Mining and Geology Office in Kannur was caught red-handed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹15,000 for granting a licence to mine and sell sand.

The inspector, P P Sreedharan (49), was arrested near Irinavu Junction on Thursday, July 16, while allegedly receiving the bribe from the complainant, a native of Cherukunnu panchayat in Kannur district.

According to a statement from VACB, the complainant had applied to the Kannur Mining and Geology Office in June 2025 for permission to mine and sell sand. Alleging undue delay in processing his application, he approached the Kerala High Court and secured a favourable order.

Following the court order, officials from the Mining and Geology Office asked him to submit the required documents. When he met Sreedharan, the official reportedly told him that a site inspection would be conducted before processing the application. However, when no inspection took place, the complainant approached the office again.

When contacted, Vigilance DySP Babu Peringeth said Sreedharan allegedly demanded ₹30,000 to inspect the site and process the file. The mineral revenue inspector also allegedly warned that the application would not move forward otherwise. “The complainant had taken a small plot on lease to mine sand. He was legally required to pay only ₹1,000 and the applicable royalty on the sand. The processing itself should not have taken more than one month,” said the DySP.

When the complainant expressed his inability to pay the amount, the demand was allegedly reduced to ₹15,000, to be paid during the site inspection.

Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the Kannur Unit of the VACB. Acting on the complaint, Vigilance officials waited for him near Irinavu Junction. “He had a few inspections to be carried out at brick kilns and quarries before reaching Irinavu,” said the DySP.

As soon as Sreedharan reached the place and accepted the money, the Vigilance office₹moved in on him. “We found the sealed cover in his bag. The accused said it was his own money of ₹10,000,” said the DySP. “We counted it in the presence of residents and found it was ₹15,000,” said Peringeth.

After arresting him, VACB office₹raided Sreedharan’s house at Kuttiyeri in Pariyaram grama panchayat near Taliparamba. “We seized several documents from the house. The proceedings began at 11 am and ended around 10 pm,” said the officer. The VACB team included Inspecto₹Binu Mohan and Sunil Kumar.

Sreedharan is being produced before the Vigilance Court in Thalassery on Thursday.

Peringeth said this was the first arrest in Kannur under the Vigilance Department's Project Zero, an initiative branded by the UDF government aimed at making Kerala corruption-free.

The DySP appealed to the public to report corruption-related information in Kannur district directly to him via WhatsApp at 9447582440, assuring that complainants' identities would be kept confidential. Alternatively, complaints can be lodged through the Vigilance toll-free helpline 1064, by calling 8592900900, or via WhatsApp at 9447789100.