Police officers attached with the Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) from Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar districts jointly conducted a search at the house of a tahsildar, Thennarasu (51), who was caught red-handed at his office, while receiving a bribe of ₹1 lakh, from an applicant,two days ago.
DVAC sources told The Hindu on Saturday, October 7, 2023, that they had registered a case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, after a petitioner claimed that the tahsildar allegedly demanded ₹3 lakh to issue a patta, and wanted ₹1 lakh paid as advance. When the petitioner handed over the cash, the DVAC arrested the officer in a well-planned trap.
The tahsildar, who was serving in Ramanathapuram district, had his residence in Athipatti in Virudhunagar district. After an interrogation, the police obtained a warrant from the court, and teams led by officers from both the districts conducted the searches at the tahsildar’s residence in the presence of his relative and a revenue official.
A senior officer said that they seized bundles of ₹500 notes stashed in bags from the palatial residence and also found documents of immovable properties purchased in the name of his relatives and in his own names.
The officers said that the tahsildar had purchased numerous immovable properties in Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar and Madurai district and the market value of the properties could be around ₹15 crore. The documents seized also indicated that the accused person has allegedly invested in a hospital, they added.
The details of the seizures from the residence was recorded in the mahazar and further investigations are being carried out.
Sand mining activities
A discreet probe by the officials also indicated that the accused tahsildar had amassed wealth by allowing miners to indulge in rampant mining of sand in Ramanathapuram district.
The government had permitted farmers to mine alluvial soil from the water bodies belonging to the Public Works Department (PWD) and panchayat tanks. However, in most of the cases, sand miners had taken the sand from these water bodies, and tahsildar had allegedly been involved in this racket by accepting bribes, the police alleged.
