TIRUCHY: The brother of the K Abishekapuram village administrative officer (VAO), who was recently arrested by the DVAC on charges of demanding and accepting a bribe, on Tuesday submitted a petition with the chief minister’s special cell complaining that his arrest was “illegal” citing that the accused was not named in the FIR.
On his brother T Senthilkumar’s (50) arrest, his brother T Elamaan Sekar (62) of Somarasampettai in the petition said, “The FIR states the complainant, N Rathinakumar (40), having on August 22 applied for a legal heir certificate through an e-sevai centre. For this, he met former K Abishekapuram VAO Rajesh on August 28.
Then, Rajesh demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 for himself and his superiors. After Rathinakumar expressed his limitations, the VAO demanded Rs 3,000 only for himself. Rathinakumar, who did not want to give a bribe, complained with the Tiruchy vigilance department. The DVAC, however, did not properly investigate the complaint and arrested Senthilkumar, who recently took over as the new VAO and put him in jail.”
“As per Rathinakumar’s complaint, Senthilkumar was not named an accused. The government should conduct a thorough investigation into the “illegal arrest,” he added.
When contacted, a senior officer from the Tiruchy DVAC unit told TNIE, “Rajesh, who served as VAO before Senthilkumar, was transferred in July. As the complainant Rathinakumar is not from the town, he mentioned Rajesh’s name, which was displayed in the VAO’s office, instead of Senthilkumar.”
“Based on this, we registered an FIR without verifying the names. If we had inquired, our trap would not stayed so. We, however, possess all evidence, including the audio of the conversation between the complainant and Senthilkumar. We also have the video taken when we arrested him red-handed. Further, we have submitted to the court mentioning Senthilkumar as accused in all supporting documents. It was based on it that he was jailed,” the officer added.