THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In flash raids, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Monday unearthed extensive irregularities across the checkposts in the state.
The Vigilance carried out the raids in the early hours of Monday after it received frequent complaints and tip-off from the public. The raids were led by a special team of the Vigilance in each of the districts under the instructions of Vigilance Director in-charge N Shankar Reddy.
In the raids, the sleuths recovered and seized unaccounted cash of around Rs 35,530 from the major checkposts in the state. In some of the checkposts, the cash found was less than the amount which was revealed by the checkpost officials.
Shankar Reddy told 'Express' that the raids were part of the statewide crackdown on the financial irregularities prevailing in the checkposts in the state following the numerous complaints received from the public.
In the Kumily RTO checkpost in Idukki district, the Vigilance sleuths found that there was a shortage of stamps worth Rs 6,000. Unaccounted cash of Rs 350, which was hidden inside a box in the kitchen, was also seized.
In the Aryankavu sales tax checkpost in Kollam district, the officials detained the office assistant red-handed while he was accepting a bribe of around Rs 2,000
through the RTO checkpost counter. The sleuths also recovered unaccounted cash of Rs 3,400. They found that there was large-scale violation of official duties, including in the sealing of forms, for allowing the entry of vehicles to the state.
In the Muthanga checkpost in Wayanad district, the officials found that there was shortage of cash kept in the cash chest in the office. In the Gopalapuram sales tax checkpost in Palakkad district, the Vigilance recovered and seized a cash bundle of around Rs 11,470. The sleuths also found that the officials had accepted a bribe of around Rs 12,310, which is twenty times the government tax. In the Velanthavalam checkpost in Palakkad district, the officials found unaccounted money of Rs 3,220 and the employees of the checkpost were found keeping off from work without prior information.