Heat on tainted officials

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsGovernment officials who worked in Melur taluk between 1991 to 2010 have now come under the scanner of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption (DVAC) for allegedly being hand-in-glove with the granite mining mafia in the region.The district administration handed over a list of such officials — many of them allegedly got kickbacks from the granite majors — to the DVAC, which has started perusing the property details of the tainted officials.A majority of the officials who worked in Melur during that period were under the scanner, sources in the DVAC said. “We have got the details about the officials, who turned a blind eye to the multi-crore granite scam in Melur in exchange for bribes. The officials blindly gave out quarrying licences,” an official detailed.Police and DVAC sleuths have now asked the registrar office to submit the property details of these officials. The list given to the DVAC has the names of officials from the Mining and Geology department, PWD, panchayat and Commercial Taxes department, apart from revenue inspectors, tahsildars and those in the rank of supervisors.Efforts were on to get arrest warrants against the top-level officials involved. Meanwhile, the DVAC was consolidating the details to prove the prima-facie of the offenses against higher officials named in the case, including former collectors Mathivanan and Kamaraj. These officials consciously entertained illegal mining over the past years, sources said.According to another official, “The district administration has to form a task force and high-level committee to prevent illegal mining. Every district has these two committees, headed by the Collector. The Collector is responsible for frequently conducting raids and inspecting quarries and other places. Though the order in this regard was issued for all the Collectors, officials in Madurai did not conduct any inspection to prevent the illegal quarrying.”DVAC sources also pointed to the hand of politicians in the granite mafia. “They did not inform the State authorities. Moreover, the licences were issued only on the recommendations of certain officials and politicians,” they said. All angles were being probed, an official said.“We are collecting details about the purchasers of granite marbles from PRP Exports and other companies. Few granite firms against whom we have already booked cases supplied granite for the construction of government buildings during the previous DMK regime,” the official said.first published:September 17, 2012, 11:30 ISTlast updated:September 17, 2012, 11:30 IST
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Government officials who worked in Melur taluk between 1991 to 2010 have now come under the scanner of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption (DVAC) for allegedly being hand-in-glove with the granite mining mafia in the region.

The district administration handed over a list of such officials — many of them allegedly got kickbacks from the granite majors — to the DVAC, which has started perusing the property details of the tainted officials.

A majority of the officials who worked in Melur during that period were under the scanner, sources in the DVAC said. “We have got the details about the officials, who turned a blind eye to the multi-crore granite scam in Melur in exchange for bribes. The officials blindly gave out quarrying licences,” an official detailed.

Police and DVAC sleuths have now asked the registrar office to submit the property details of these officials. The list given to the DVAC has the names of officials from the Mining and Geology department, PWD, panchayat and Commercial Taxes department, apart from revenue inspectors, tahsildars and those in the rank of supervisors.

Efforts were on to get arrest warrants against the top-level officials involved. Meanwhile, the DVAC was consolidating the details to prove the prima-facie of the offenses against higher officials named in the case, including former collectors Mathivanan and Kamaraj. These officials consciously entertained illegal mining over the past years, sources said.

According to another official, “The district administration has to form a task force and high-level committee to prevent illegal mining. Every district has these two committees, headed by the Collector. The Collector is responsible for frequently conducting raids and inspecting quarries and other places. Though the order in this regard was issued for all the Collectors, officials in Madurai did not conduct any inspection to prevent the illegal quarrying.”

DVAC sources also pointed to the hand of politicians in the granite mafia. “They did not inform the State authorities. Moreover, the licences were issued only on the recommendations of certain officials and politicians,” they said. All angles were being probed, an official said.

“We are collecting details about the purchasers of granite marbles from PRP Exports and other companies. Few granite firms against whom we have already booked cases supplied granite for the construction of government buildings during the previous DMK regime,” the official said.