Chennai: Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has suspended seven officials after Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) registered FIRs following recent surprise raids. The officials now face dismissal proceedings. Among those suspended is an assistant engineer attached to Ward 74 in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, represented by mayor R Priya.On July 3, a team of nine DVAC officlas carried out a raid after getting a tip-off about corruption in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zonal office. The area executive engineer R Saravanan and assistant engineer T Saraswathi were booked and an FIR was registered on Jul 6. Sources said DVAC recovered unaccounted cash, gold jewellery, tax invoices and documents relating to gold savings schemes from Saravanan’s office. Among them were records of a gold savings plan with monthly instalments of ₹25,000 for 246 months besides another scheme with monthly instalments of ₹5,000 for 182 months in the name of Saraswathi. Officials also seized foreign liquor worth ₹32,000 from Saravanan’s cupboard. According to the FIR, Saravanan said the liquor bottles were ‘gifts from contractors’, which DVAC cited as evidence of receipt of undue advantage.The agency also recovered documents related to Saraswathi’s housing loan from Saravanan’s official car. An examination of Saravanan’s bank accounts between Jan 1 and June 30 this year revealed unexplained cash deposits of ₹10.61 lakh, officials said.During the nine-hour search, the DVAC sought to question Saraswathi about investments made in her name. In its FIR, the agency said she had ‘evaded the search proceedings without DVAC’s consent’. Summoned later, Saraswathi claimed she had attended a meeting on the Otteri Nullah canal development project at the joint commissioner (works) office in Ripon Buildings. However, the DVAC said its verification found that she had not attended the meeting.“We are investigating seizures and investments made by the EE in the name of the AE and the parties who are behind transactions. The officials could not explain the source of money. We want to complete the investigation within two months and finalise service removal,” an official said.The DVAC said it was not satisfied with Saraswathi’s explanations and alleged that she concealed incriminating facts by evading the raid. Investigators collected 14 pages of her Google Pay transaction records and found ₹1.71 lakh in unexplained transactions over the past six months, following which she too was named in the FIR.The agency also booked assistant executive engineer (town planning) Ravivarman, who worked in the same premises, after finding ₹2.39 lakh in unexplained digital transactions over the past six months. The DVAC further noted that the zonal office did not maintain a personal cash register to track in-house cash circulation among officials.Four other staff, including junior assistant Manikandan, superintendent accountant A Sriramulu, sanitary officer A Manjith and conservancy inspector R Kothandan from the Thiru Vi Ka Nagar and Teynampet zones were also suspended after DVAC found a cumulative ₹1.39 lakh in unexplained cash.
