In a major set back to former Excise Minister K. Babu, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has registered a case against him for allegedly amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The First Information Report (FIR) submitted by the VACB Special Cell, Kochi, at the Vigilance court at Muvattupuzha has named Mr. Babu, his alleged benamis — Baburam of Kumbalam and Mohanan of Tripunithura — as the first and third accused respectively. The case has been registered against the three under Sections 13 (1) (d) & (e) read with 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
The FIR, opened after verification, states that Mr. Babu abused his power as Minister and amassed wealth between 2011 and 2016. The FIR said that Mr. Babu purchased a luxury sedan (Mercedes Benz E Class E 250 CDI) worth Rs.45 lakh for his daughter in the name of her father-in-law Raveendran in June 2012. The car was sold to Jasmine after corruption allegations cropped up.
Mr. Babu purchased a car (Nissan Micra XP Premium) for his daughter in October 2012 and an MUV (Toyota Innova) in his name. Further, he renovated his residence at Tripunithura in luxurious manner and spent lakhs of rupees for the marriage of his younger daughter two years ago.
Based on the FIR, Vigilance sleuths on Saturday raided the residences of Mr. Babu, his daughters’ houses at Palarivattom and Thodupuzha, elder daughter’s father-in-law’s office at Thodupuzha and houses of five suspected benamis.
While Rs.1.5 lakh and 180 grams of gold were seized from Mr. Babu’s residence, Rs.6.6 lakh was seized from the house of his suspected benami Mohanan of Tripunithura. Besides, documents relating to the property at Theni have been seized.
