Kollam (Kerala) | A village assistant was caught by the VACB on Saturday while allegedly accepting a Rs 10,000 bribe here for processing a land conversion application, officials said.

The accused, Muhammed Khan, a native of Pattom in Thiruvananthapuram, reportedly demanded the bribe from a complainant to convert 34 cents of land owned by the complainant's mother in Piravanthoor village.

According to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, the land conversion application had been submitted and forwarded from the Punalur RDO office to the Piravanthoor Village Office for the calculation of the property's fair value.

After initial procedures, the file was returned to the RDO office and then sent back to the village office due to discrepancies in the report.

When the complainant enquired directly at the village office, he was told the file could not be traced. Later, through a friend familiar with the office, he contacted Khan, who allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 to process the file.

The VACB said that on Friday, Khan reportedly called the complainant's friend and reiterated the demand, asking that the money be sent via Google Pay or handed over in person at the village office before 4 pm on Saturday.

Refusing to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the deputy superintendent of police, VACB, Kollam, who laid a trap under his supervision.

Earlier in the day, Khan was caught by the VACB while accepting Rs 10,000 from the complainant in front of the Piravanthoor Village Office, officials said.

The accused will be produced at the Vigilance Court in Kollam soon, they added.