KOCHI/KASARGOD: The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered cases and begun investigation into alleged corruption in the Central University of Kerala in Kasargod.
The case pertains to the alleged financial irregularities in outsourcing security service to Kasargod-based Matha Security Agency and paying excess rent for the university’s science block at Padannakkad. A CBI team raided the houses of joint registrar S Gopinath in Kasargod and assistant registrar (finance) P Rajeevan in Vadakara Thursday morning. It also raided the house of R Rajendran, owner of Matha agency, at Vidyanagar in Kasargod.
According to the officers of Central Bureau of Investigation, Rajeevan and Rajendran have been named in the first information report registered in Kochi on Thursday.
An officer said Gopinath, who was till recently registrar in-charge, was not yet booked. “Several persons held the posts of registrar in-charge during the period of the alleged corruption. We are still in the process of collecting evidence but he (Gopinath) is not out of the suspect list,” he said.
Vice-chancellor G Gopakumar said a team -- led by Krishna Kumar, SP, anti-corruption bureau, CBI -- also visited the university.
Officials said the seven-member team took original files related to security outsourcing. According to an internal report, Matha Security Agency had been submitting inflated bills and getting them cleared for the past three years.
After the fraud came to light, the university saved `2.32 lakh in security bill just for one month.
The university has also been paying excess rent for the Padannakkad campus resulting in a net loss of more than `81 lakh, according to an internal assessment.