The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Wing of the State police here have registered case against six persons, including the chairperson of Kadayanallur municipality, for allegedly siphoning off official funds without laying roads in various places under the urban civic body.
The First Information Report filed by the Anti-Corruption Wing based on the complaint by one P.S. Arulraj of Kadayanallur said the council of Kadayanallur municipality gave its nod on February 13, 2013 for laying roads at 36 spots under its jurisdiction on an outlay of Rs. 6.94 crore. When the tender was floated, Arunachalam, a contractor from western Tirunelveli, bagged the contract.
Without laying the roads in these places, S. Saifunnisha, chairperson, Kadayanallur municipality, N.M. Ahmed Ali, Junior Engineer, V. Prince Rajendran, then Engineer of the municipality, A. Kanagaraj, Engineer (Madurai Region), Arunachalam and K. Raja Mohamed, both contractors, created fake records as if roads had been laid and shared among themselves the amount allotted for the purpose, the FIR said.
Even after a couple of councillors raised this issue and sent complaints to the Regional Director of Municipal Administration, Tirunelveli, and Commissioner for Municipal Administration, no action was taken against them.
When Mr. Arulraj, an advocate, filed a complaint detailing the crime with the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Wing, the case was registered on Saturday.
The case has been registered under Sections 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), and 477 A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 13 (1) (C) (misappropriation of official property or funds for own use) and 13 (1) (d) (obtaining valuable things through corrupt means) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, read with 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. However, none has been arrested so far.
