Two Kochi Corporation officials held for allegedly accepting bribes

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Thursday (October 16, 2025) arrested two officials of the Kochi Corporation for allegedly accepting bribes. Lalichan V.M., a superintendent hailing from Thumpoli in Alappuzha, and Manikandan. A., a revenue inspector from Thiruvananthapuram, were arrested from the Edappally zonal office of the Corporation.

They were reportedly caught red-handed while allegedly accepting ₹5,000 and ₹2,000 from a native of Kaloor. The complainant had applied for changing the ownership of a building, the VACB said.

“The complainant had filed the application in May, but it was kept pending citing various reasons. The accused recently sought bribes from the complainant to process the application. He then filed a complaint with the VACB, which in turn set a trap for the officials,” C.M. Varghese, Deputy Superintendent of Police, VACB, Ernakulam unit, said.

Several incidents of alleged bribery involving Corporation officials have been reported recently. Last month, a revenue clerk of the Palluruthy zonal office of the Corporation was arrested on charge of accepting bribe amounting to ₹25,000.

In April, a building inspector at the Vyttila zonal office had landed in the VACB net for reportedly taking ₹15,000 as bribe. Three officials of the Corporation, a health inspector, junior health inspector, and a temporary employee were nabbed by the VACB in December 2024 on charges of accepting bribes.