THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A staffer of the corporation who was allegedly involved in the corruption in revenue tax collection was arrested by the city police on Wednesday. The arrested is Biju, who was an attendant of the Sreekaryam zonal office of the corporation. He was taken into custody by the Sreekaryam police from a hideout at Kallara.
Biju is involved in swindling Rs 1.5 lakh from the revenue money as building tax paid by the people. One more office attendant, Anil, at the same zonal office is still at large. “Efforts are on to nab Anil. Since he has moved an anticipatory bail and it got rejected, we will arrest him soon. He is under our surveillance,” said Azad Abdul Kalam, Sreekaryam inspector of police.
However, BJP councillors who have been staging day and night protests for the past 14 days inside the council hall of the corporation will continue their protest demanding the arrest of the other three staff. According to M R Gopan, Opposition leader, the first arrest was recorded as a fallout of strong protests by the councillors. “Though the arrest attributes the success of our protests, we will continue the protest till all the staff involved in the scam are arrested,’’ Gopan said.
VV Rajesh, BJP district president and councillor, said the police have arrested only a staff who was involved in small-scale corruption. “There are staff, including the Nemom superintendent S Shanthi, who are accused of swindling around `26 lakh. Though the district court rejected her anticipatory bail petition, the police have not arrested so far. This indicates the unholy nexus between CPM-led corporation and the police,” he said.
On Wednesday, the BJP councillors and Yuva Morcha staged a march to the city police commissioner office demanding the arrest of all the staff accused in the scam. Four employees of the corporation were earlier suspended over allegations of financial fraud to the tune of Rs 33.96 lakh. The Kerala State Audit Department’s concurrent audit found that money received as taxes was misappropriated by the employees of the Nemom, Sreekaryam, Ulloor and Attipra zonal offices of the corporation.
S Shanthi and S Sunitha, the superintendent and cashier at the Nemom office, were suspended two weeks ago for embezzling Rs 26.7 lakh. The fraud was first detected at the Sreekaryam office. Two staff, office attendant Biju and bill collector Anil were suspended pending inquiry for diverting Rs 5.04 lakh from Sreekaryam office. Later, similar fraud was reported at Ulloor and Attipra zonal offices. The staff had reportedly used two challans instead of one while depositing the daily collection at the bank.
Tharoor seeks arrest of all guilty
MP Shashi Tharoor has sought the arrest of all those involved in the revenue scam.
Biju is involved in swindling J1.5 lakh paid by people as building tax.
BJP councillors and Yuva Morcha staged a march to the city police commissioner’s office demanding the arrest of all the accused staff