The panchayat secretary of Se. Nachipattu village near Chengam town, 44-year-old K. Soundarajan, was suspended for not maintaining official records and failing to collect pending taxes.

Revenue officials said Collector K. Tharpagaraj issued the suspension order. The Collector, during a visit to the panchayat office as part of field inspection, found that the records were not maintained properly and pending arrears from defaulters were not being collected by panchayat staff, they said.