Since Oct, DVAC arrested 33 govt staff for corruption

Since Oct, DVAC arrested 33 govt staff for corruption

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  17.12.2020

In the past two and half months, surprise raids across the state by Directorateof Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) officials has resulted in the arrest of 33 government staff for demanding and receiving bribe. According to an official release, 127 surprise checks were conducted state wide in government offices between October 1 and December 14, in which unaccounted money of ₹6.96 crore, 7.2kg gold, 9.8kg silver, 10.5 carats of diamonds and fixed deposits of ₹37 lakh were seized apart from documents.

Officials were arrested for receiving bribe amount as less as ₹1,000. In Chennai, a sanitary inspector with the city corporation, an estate officer with the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB), a junior assistant with the district revenue office were among those booked by the vigilance department.

Very recently, on Monday (Dec 14), DVAC officials raided the office and residence of Pandian, a superintendent in the state department of environment and seized property worth ₹1.37 crore. The officials found ₹88,500 in unaccounted money from thesuperintendent’soffice at Saidapet’s Panagal Maligai, where all senior environment department officials sit. Search at his residence in Saligramam yielded 3kg gold,10 carats of diamonds, fixed deposits of ₹37 lakh and 18 property documents.

A DVAC official said the superintendent is only a member of the clerical staff, but influential. “Top Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers were also wary of him.Hewouldthreaten totransfer other officials if they did not listen to him,” he said.

Other notable seizure by DVAC sleuths in the past two months was in Vellore, where searches for two continuous days at the office and residences of M Panneerselvam, a zonal officer with the state pollution control board, resulted in seizure of property worth ₹3.5 crore in cash, 450 sovereigns of gold and 6.5kg of silver.

Searches at a senior official in the registration department in Salem resulted in seizure of more than ₹1 crore worth properties.

A majority of raids were conducted at RTO (regional transport office) checkposts acrossthestate andin sub-registrar offices.

Unaccounted money of ₹6.96 crore, 7.2kg gold, 9.8kg silver, 10.5 carats of diamonds and fixed deposits of ₹37 lakh were seized in 127 raids