Alleging that an Executive Engineer from the Public Works Department here was demanding 10 % of the project cost as bribe to award contracts, M. Sankarapandi, a private contractor, on Friday petitioned Collector’s office with a clandestinely-shot video footage showing the EE allegedly accepting bribe from another contractor.
However, the EE , R. Krishnamoorthi, with Building Construction and Maintenance Division of PWD here, denied the allegation by claiming that the footage was misleading and he was only borrowing ₹4,000 from a contractor to meet an urgent need as he was out of cash at that time.
He, along with 20 other employees in his office, also filed a complaint with Madurai city police alleging blackmail, intimidation and intrusion of privacy against Mr. Sankarapandi, although a case is yet to be registered.
Speaking to the media here on Friday, Mr. Sankarapandi alleged that corruption in PWD here had increased manifold recently and he was not awarded a single contract in the past one year since he refused to pay the demanded bribe.
“My attempt to participate in bidding earlier this year was also thwarted by PWD officials,” he claimed.
Regarding the video footage, Mr. Sankarapandi said that he did not install any spy camera in the office and the video shot on February 6 was in fact given to him by a PWD employee. In the hour-long video, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, seated in his office, is seen receiving some cash from a person and keeps it in his shirt pocket.
Claiming that he had more incriminating video and audio evidence of corruption by the EE and his subordinates, Mr. Sankarapandi said he wrote a letter to the EE’s superiors in the second week of February based on this evidence. “Knowing this, he is trying to project me as an accused by filing a police complaint,” he said.
In the complaint, Mr. Krishnamoorthi and other PWD employees had alleged that Mr. Sankarapandi indulged in blackmailing since he was denied participation in a tender for not meeting the deadline.
“He approached the office in the evening once the deadline was over. When we told him in the presence of other contractors that he could not participate, he created a ruckus and scolded us using abusive language,” Mr. Krishnamoorthi alleged, adding that Mr. Sankarapandi had behaved in a similar manner with other officials in the past. “Though we wanted to report the incident immediately to the police, we did not do so as requested by other contractors,” he added.
