VELLORE: A six-hour-long inspection by officials of DVAC and District Inspection Cell at the office of the Deputy Director (in-charge) of Town and Country Planning and at a rented house on Friday night revealed that the official had ‘employed’ 38 persons to carry out official works without the knowledge of higher ups.
The sleuths seized Rs 3.28 lakh in unaccounted cash and documents from the office and house. The inspection was led by Deputy Inspection Cell officer Jothi and DVAC DSP (in-charge of Vellore) Saravana Kumar based on a tip-off. A DVAC Inspector said that during questioning the official confessed that he had engaged 38 staff, many of them civil engineering graduates, at a rented house in Sathuvachari of Vellore to do documentation work pertaining to the files submitted by the public for approval of layouts, plots, etc. Apparently, 37 of the staff were paid a monthly salary of Rs 9,000, while a ‘supervisor’ used to receive Rs 15,000 per month. This ‘supervisor’ is said to be a retired government officer from the same office. A register seized at the house showed staff had been working for over a year.
The DVAC Inspector said the official “forced” people to pay a bribe of at least Rs 10,000 per acre of land for issuing approval orders, and used a portion of the kick-backs to pay his staff. The official is under the custody of DVAC. A case is likely to be registered on Monday. A top Directorate of Town and Country Planning official refused to comment. Vellore Collector SA Raman pleaded ignorance.