Corrupt officials trapped by DVAC in 11 bribery cases since January 2024

Corrupt officials trapped by DVAC in 11 bribery cases since January 2024

S. Sundar

MADURAI

Law & order 08.02.2025

An increased awareness against corruption has emboldened common man, already dejected over demand of bribe by State government officials and employees, to come forward to lodge complaints with the sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption unit in Madurai.

The unit has registered as many as 11 cases against bribe-demanding government employees and trapped them along with their conduits since January 2024. As a result, officials from various departments like Survey, Registration, Revenue, Water Resources and Tangedco have been arrested after being trapped. The recent case was the arrest of a Sub-Inspector of Police at K. Pudur, who demanded huge money from a woman complainant for arresting an accused in an assault case.

Anger over harassment

“It is not that every individual person is coming forward to lodge complaints against government employees who put payment of bribe as a prerequisite to offer some official service. When the demand is higher or the applicant is ill-treated or harassed with inordinate delay in carrying out their duties, out of anger and frustration, people come to lodge complaint with us,” a DVAC officer said.

“The State government is paying salary to the employees to discharge their duties, and demanding bribe is a crime under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” he said.

“When people come forward to lodge a complaint, the first thing we tell them is not tell anyone, including family members, about the complaint. Otherwise, there is every chance of the issue reaching the ears of the accused employee, and the process of trapping might fail,” he added.

After registering a case, a team of sleuths would issue tainted currencies to the complainant and direct him/her to follow the diktat of the accused official. The sleuths would watch the happening from a distance and wait for a signal from the complainant of having handed over the currency to swoop upon him. After being caught red-handed, the accused is arrested.

“The issue does not end here. Our manual has mandated us to get the issue, for which the complainant had approached the officer, addressed at the earliest. The only issue is that the complainant should have all the papers right and should be eligible to get the service,” he added.

The officer said those arrested under a trap on corruption charge had higher chances of getting convicted. “They also spend their lifetime in attending court hearings for their act of greed,” he added.