The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) police on Wednesday arrested the Additional Director of Medical and Rural Health Services/State Tuberculosis Officer E. Subburam, Deputy Director (Tuberculosis), Kanyakumari district, K. Senthilvel Murugan and two others on charges of corruption. A sum of Rs. 20.33 lakh was recovered from them.
Sources in the DVAC said they received a tip-off that Dr. Senthilvel Murugan, Data Entry Operator Balamurugan of Kanyakumari, and Ravindra of Madurai, had collected huge bribes from candidates appearing for interview to the post of Laboratory Technician and Laboratory Supervisor. The information was that the trio had taken the Kanyakumari Express to Chennai to deliver the money to Dr. Subburam.
After the input was found to be reliable, Joint Director (DVAC) Sunil Kumar instructed that two teams be formed to investigate the complaint. Accordingly, one team boarded the train at Chengalpattu early on Wednesday and kept surveillance on the suspects in the two-tier AC coach. Another team led by the Deputy Superintendents of Police M.N. Natarajan and S. Tirunavukkarasu got into the train at Tambaram and intercepted the officials with the help of the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE).
A search of their baggage revealed Rs. 17.13 lakh. Dr. Senthilvel Murugan told the officials that the money was meant to be delivered to Dr. Subburam who was staying in an official guesthouse. Police then searched the room of the latter and seized Rs. 3.2 lakh.
Preliminary enquiries revealed that a minimum of Rs. 1.5 lakh was demanded as bribe from aspiring candidates for clearing the interviews commencing on September 14.
“Some paid the money to Dr. Senthilvel Murugan and Ravindra. Bala Murugan was not aware of the conspiracy but accompanied the accused on the train. Some money was also recovered from his baggage,” an investigator said.
While Bala Murugan was released on bail, Dr. Subburam, Dr. Senthilvel Murugan and Ravindra were produced before a judge and remanded to judicial custody, the sources added.
