COIMBATORE: Officers of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) conducted searches at the office and residences of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) V-C P Murugesa Boopath in Coimbatore and Chennai on Wednesday. The anti-corruption agency is probing allegations that Boopathi had allegedly colluded with a city-based private agricultural equipment supplier to procure sugarcane harvesters at an inflated price causing huge loss to the university two years ago.
DVAC personnel also raided the premises of ELSEETEE Agro Machineries at Nelli Konampalayam and the offices of the TNAU Registrar P Subbian, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute Dean S Santhanababu and Agricultural Machinery Research Centre Head B Manohar Jesudas. However, only Boopathi and the private company have been named in the FIR registered late on Tuesday. Documents relating to the purchase of five sugarcane harvesters in March 2010 were seized during the search operations, a DVAC officer said.