The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : SMS to the aid of police to trap corrupt officials

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Wednesday, Nov 04, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

SMS to the aid of police to trap corrupt officials

S. Vijay Kumar

CHENNAI: Tip-offs that led to the recent trapping and arrest of several Central government officials by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Tamil Nadu came over Short Messaging Service (SMS).

According to sources in the agency, the Anti-Corruption Branch had sent out messages to millions of mobile phone subscribers in the State asking them to inform the CBI in the event of any official indulging in corrupt practices.

“All the 14 cases of trap registered by us in 2009 were with the help of SMS received from members of the public and informers. Every message is scrutinised thoroughly and action is initiated only when a prima facie case is made out. Some messages have led to surprise checks that were fruitful,” a CBI official told The Hindu on Tuesday.

When such messages pertaining to allegations involving State government officials or offices arrived, the CBI shared them with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption.

“The recent arrest of a senior official in a train along with two others by the DVAC for being in possession of about Rs.14 lakh of unaccounted cash was based on information given by us.”

On the occasion of the ‘Vigilance Awareness Week’ being observed from November 3, the CBI has decided to send SMSs to about five million mobile phone subscribers in Tamil Nadu. The message would be “Do Not Give Bribe.” The official said the CBI was now focussing on the youth. “We want to reach out to students in colleges and universities through seminars and interactive sessions. Awareness also has to be created in the rural pockets,” he said.

In an attempt to bring about transparency, the CBI was planning to post on its website details of cases involving corrupt officials for whom sanction for prosecution was not sanctioned by their respective departments/ministries for over four months. “Sanction for prosecution has to be given within four months. In about 54 cases across the country, such sanctions are pending for long.”

At the DVAC, an official said 180 trap cases and 140 surprise check cases were registered since January 1 this year.

On the display of notice boards in all government offices to sensitise the public on whom they should contact to lodge complaints of corruption, Additional Director-General of Police (DVAC) K. Ramanujam said the government had sent repeated circulars in this regard.

“We cannot insist on compliance. But when such notice boards are missing when we register cases in offices during trap or surprise checks, we record that in our report to the government,” he said.

In its latest circular, the Central Vigilance Commission has said all departments/organisations were required to prominently display a standard notice board in the reception area of each of their offices about the message of the Commission for not giving bribe to any official. A review of the compliance level revealed that some offices were not following the practice.

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