KOCHI: The Ernakulam special cell of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has booked two environmental engineers of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for amassing wealth disproportionate to their known income sources.
The cases have been registered against Josemon John of Ezhukone in Kollam and Harees A M of Aluva in Ernakulam, who worked at the KSPCB office in Kottayam. They were arrested based on a bribery complaint and after lakhs of rupees were recovered from their houses in December last year.
The complaint was lodged by the owner of a tyre retreading firm who alleged Harees demanded Rs 1 lakh bribe from him for renewing the licence of his establishment. Josemon had been working in Kottayam and was transferred to Thiruvananthapuram. Though he was placed under suspension after the arrest, he was later reinstated and transferred to Kozhikode.
A VACB officer said after their Kottayam unit arrested the two officers, a preliminary probe revealed that Josemon amassed wealth to the tune of Rs 2.47 crore disproportionate to his income between January 1, 2011 and December 21, 2021, while Harees amassed disproportionate wealth to the tune of Rs 40.17 lakh. “We have registered separate cases against the officers,” said the officer.
Harees had been caught red-handed accepting a bribe from the complainant. A raid at his Aluva house led to the seizure of Rs 16.89 lakh that was stashed in different places, including in a pressure cooker and other utensils. Currency counting machines had to be brought in to count the money recovered.
The next day, Josemon’s house at Ezhukone was raided and Rs 1.56 lakh in cash, besides foreign currency – 239 US dollars, 835 Canadian dollars, 4,725 UAE dirhams and 1 Qatar rial of various denominations - recovered. It was also found that Josemon had deposits and investments to the tune of Rs 1.97 crore and owned a luxurious house, commercial buildings at Ezhukone and a resort in Vagamon.