A Karur municipal corporation tax inspector was arrested on October 12 after allegedly accepting Rs 3,000 from a woman to assess property tax for her newly constructed house, according to a report by Dinamalar.
The arrest was carried out by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption police near the Government Medical College Hospital in the Gandhi Gram area of Karur. The alleged transaction took place at Zone 3 of the Karur Municipal Corporation office, which operates in the area.
The woman, identified in the report as a 45-year-old resident of Gandhi Gram on the Karur–Trichy Road, had applied several days earlier for property tax assessment for a house under construction. The application was examined by Lokeshwaran, 35, a tax inspector attached to the corporation’s Zone 3 office.
According to the report, Lokeshwaran allegedly demanded Rs 3,000 to complete the tax assessment. The woman reportedly approached the Karur anti-corruption police after declining to pay the amount.
Following the complaint, the police advised her to hand over Rs 3,000 treated with a chemical substance to the inspector. The transaction was monitored by officers who had positioned themselves nearby, the report said.
A police team led by Karur anti-corruption Deputy Superintendent of Police John allegedly caught Lokeshwaran while he was receiving the money. The inspector was then arrested in connection with the case.
Property tax assessment is a routine municipal process that determines the tax liability of a building based on details submitted by the applicant and examined by the local authority. In this case, the alleged demand was linked to the assessment of a new house, placing the incident within a basic citizen-facing municipal service.
The report does not provide details of the sections invoked, the inspector’s response, whether the application has since been processed, or the next stage of the criminal investigation. Further legal and departmental action will depend on the proceedings initiated by the anti-corruption authorities.
