Twenty government officials in Ernakulam district were caught red-handed while allegedly accepting bribes by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in 2025. The officials, belonging to nine departments, were arrested in 14 cases, according to VACB data. The cases involved bribes amounting to a total of ₹4,49,500.
The figures show a steep increase from the previous year, when six officials were arrested in four cases involving ₹37,000. The arrests were made after the officials fell into spot traps laid by the VACB based on complaints from the public.
Of the 20 accused arrested in cases registered in 2025, three each belonged to the Local Self-Government department and the police. Two officials from the Revenue department were nabbed, while one each from the Motor Vehicles department, Kerala Water Authority, Kerala State Electricity Board, the Irrigation department, the Directorate of Enforcement, and a bank were also trapped.
The major cases in 2025 include the arrests of an assistant engineer of the KSEB’s Thevara section office and a building inspector at the Kochi Corporation’s Vyttila zonal office. They had allegedly demanded bribes of ₹90,000 and ₹15,000 respectively for delivering official services.
The VACB set traps after conducting preliminary verification of complaints against officials who allegedly demanded money to get work done. The police wing most often proceeds with action on a complaint after securing evidence of the demand for a bribe, official sources said.
The sources said a trap need not be successful every time. There have been cases in which the tainted officials changed their plans or complainants backed out, owing to concerns that VACB action could affect the personal lives of the officials, the sources added.
C.M. Varghese, Deputy Superintendent of Police, VACB, Ernakulam unit, termed vigilance traps the most effective deterrent against bribery. “The arrests are expected to prevent more officials from committing the offence and encourage more people to come forward with complaints,” he said.
This year, the district unit of the VACB has recorded one arrest in a ‘trap case’. A senior clerk at the Assistant Labour Office in Angamaly was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹1,500 in the case. Across the State, 57 trap cases were registered and 76 accused were arrested in 2025.
Published – February 05, 2026 08:23 pm IST
