THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested the former office-bearers of Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW) in connection with a case registered against them on charges of committing widespread irregularities. The arrested are Sunil C Kurian, former general secretary of the executive committee, and Chempazhanthy Anil, a lifetime member.
The arrest was made by a team led by Organised Crime Wing inspector V Anil reportedly on charges of giving membership to the council for many people. As many as 868 persons were given lifetime membership without the approval of the standing committee, the investigators found. The probe found 37 persons were appointed through backdoor and their service was confirmed without adhering to norms.
The appointments were made without inviting applications as per normal procedure, an officer said.
Earlier, a panel constituted to initiate an internal probe found only a few of the 700-odd applications for adoption were included in the list for approval. There was also corruption in the sale of Children’s Day stamps, the panel found. The panel had also found the arrested were accused of committing irregularities in the adoption process of the council and backdoor appointments.
Earlier, the district administration had also conducted an internal audit by a chartered accountant to unearth financial irregularities in the council. Three officials of the council - adoption officer K Thankamani, assistant adoption officer Asha Sivaraj, and accountant Kumari Nirmalekha - were suspended for allegedly committing manipulations. Sudheer, a council employee, who allegedly made the entries as per the instruction of Sunil and Anil, was made an approver in the case. A forensic comparison of his handwriting with that of the minutes was also conducted.
Sunil and Anil were produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here which remanded them in judicial custody. The elections to the KSCCW administrative committee last year had witnessed clashes between Congress and CPM activists over bogus membership.