Following the arrest of Thanjavur Corporation Commissioner M. Varadarajan on a graft charge on Friday morning, sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) conducted a search at his residence later in the day and seized financial and property documents. DVAC teams from Thanjavur and Salem, led by S. Chandramouli, conducted the search in the presence of Mr. Varadarajan’s wife and two sons. Police sources said fixed deposit receipts from various banks and other financial institutions to the tune of ₹1 crore and documents related to purchased properties and insurance policies were found on the premises.
Besides, the police also collected details of a dozen bank accounts in the name of Mr. Varadarajan and his wife. They are perusing the documents and will approach the banks concerned to get the statements of the accounts maintained by Mr. Varadarajan, sources said.
Mr. Varadarajan is the second Corporation Commissioner to have been arrested in recent times. In August 2017, DVAC officials caught Vellore Commissioner T. Kumar red-handed while he was accepting a bribe of ₹20,000 from a contractor. Mr. Varadarajan was arrested in his office while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹75,000 for fixing a lower vacant land tax. He was due for superannuation in 40 days.
