Chennai: Sleuths from the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption on Tuesday unearthed Rs 25.68 lakh in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations during searches at premises across the state belonging to a retired chief engineer of TN highway department. The searches originated on a complaint from the Anti-Corruption Movement Chennai. All the cash seized were in demonetised notes.
Searches were carried out at the house of K. Jayaraman, retired chief engineer, construction and maintenance wing of TN highways, at KK Nagar in Chennai, another house and a commercial complex in Fair Lands in Salem, besides an engineering college in Ullundurpet in Villupuram.
According to a DVAC official, a case of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known source of income has been registered against Mr Jayaraman. “His income from the year 2007 to 2016 was scrutinised and found that he had been amassing wealth by corrupt ways,” disclosed an officer.
A complaint from V.R. Chandran, general secretary of Anti-Corruption Movement, Chennai, alleged that the retired officer possesses disproportionate wealth worth over Rs 37 crore.
“He had been preparing bogus bills for sign boards which are not actually fixed, inflating the cost of various items in road project estimates, violating the tender transparency act to his advantage, executing sub-standard works and diverting government fund allotted for plan works to non-plan works with a motive to defraud the government to benefit himself,” the complaint said.
Jayaraman joined the department in 1981 and retired nine months ago. The complaint also contained a dossier on properties held by his wife, son and daughter. It also details of possible expense on education and marriage of his children.
