The Lokayukta Police have arrested a gram panchayat secretary, a bill collector and a daily wage worker attached to the Kolur Gram Panchayat office in Koppal district for accepting ₹75,000 bribe for issuing panchayat khata records and Form Nos 9 and 11 related to a converted land.

According to a press release, the accused have been identified as 59-year-old Mariyappa Shivappa Madivala, who is the secretary of Kolur Gram Panchayat and resident of Betageri, 31-year-old Nagaraj Gavishiddappa Badiger, who is a bill collector attached to the gram panchayat and resident of Dadegal, and 22-year-old Maruti Mudiyappa Mainalli, who is a daily wage employee at the gram panchayat office and a resident of Dadegal.

Sixtyfive-year-old complainant M. Gnaneshwarayya, who is a retired gram panchayat secretary from Hagaribommanahalli in Vijayanagara district, has said that the accused demanded ₹75,000 bribe for processing panchayat khata records and issuing Form Nos 9 and 11 in respect of an eight-gunta agricultural land situated in Dadegal village in Koppal taluk and registered in the name of his wife K. Sumangala.

The release said that the Deputy Commissioner of Koppal issued deemed land conversion orders for the property under the master plan on November 8, 2024. Subsequently, the Koppal Urban Development Authority approved the layout for single residential use on March 27, 2025.

The complainant approached the Lokayukta Police on May 5 after being asked to pay the bribe amount by the accused.

Acting on the complaint, the Lokayukta Police caught the accused while they were accepting the bribe amount on Wednesday.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of Lokayukta Superintendent of Police Siddaraju C. and under the leadership of Deputy Superintendent of Police Lokesh.

Police Inspector Chandrappa, who is the investigating officer in the case, along with Lokayukta inspectors Sunil and Shaila S. Patishettar and other staff members, were involved in the operation, the release added.