A Village Administrative Officer attached to Puthanatham near Manapparai has been placed under suspension after a clip, showing him accepting money from a sand smuggler, went viral on social media platforms.

The clip showed VAO Saravanan while standing in front of the police station at Puthanatham receiving money from a person apparently for illegally transporting gravel by a lorry, which was reportedly caught by the official when it was loading gravel from a waterbody.

In a related audio clip, a person, who claimed to be a son of DMK councillor of North Edayapatti, says he had transported 2,000 loads based on a permit and it had lapsed just a day ago. The VAO allegedly demanded ₹50,000 for releasing the lorry. He says that he is open to strike a deal by paying ‘monthly payment’ to facilitate their operations (sand smuggling). He assured him to ‘communicate the smuggling in advance” so as to avoid action.

Collector V. Saravanan told The Hindu that the veracity of the video and audio clips were being verified and the VAO had been suspended pending departmental inquiry.