VILLUPURAM: In a major anti-corruption drive, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption wing of the police has booked a district registrar and 11 sub-registrars in the district on bribery charges. The move comes hours after anti-corruption sleuths raided the premises of district registrar office in the Master Plan Complex in Villupuram on Friday. The raids were conducted based on information that the district registrar was collecting bribe from sub-registrars.
During a raid conducted at a sub-registrar office in Villupuram last month, the sleuths had seized unaccounted money and received information that bribery did not stop even after online registration of documents came into effect. They also got startling information that the sub-registrars were giving a portion of the collected bribe to the district registrar during the monthly meeting of registration officials. Based on this information, the sleuths had been waiting for the next monthly meeting to take place.
On Friday, as planned, a police team under DSP Ashok Kumar went to the district registration office during the monthly meeting. They locked the gates and doors of the premises and started a raid. During the raids, they seized Rs 42,630 from District Registrar Kumaresan’s office and another Rs 50,000 from his official car.
Upon inquiry, Kumaresan could not give a satisfactory explanation for the source of the cash. The officials reportedly seized some documents as well, vigilance sources said. The sub-registrars were also questioned during the raids. Based on preliminary inquiries, the district registrar has been booked for receiving bribes and the 11 sub-registrars for giving bribes. Sources said that Kumaresan would be arrested soon and department-level action be taken against him.