Kerala - Kollam   

Land acquisition: cases against four

KOLLAM: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Monday registered a case against four persons, including two Government officers, in connection with a land acquisition case at Pulamon Junction in Kottarakara.

VACB DySP C.G. Jayasanthilal Ram said that the land acquisition was for the M.C. Road development project. The VACB case is that the four had conspired to create a loss of more than Rs. 6.63 lakhs to the Government.

The identity of those against whom cases were registered was given as P.G. Suresh, the Superintending Engineer of the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP), R. Hairdas, Land Acquisition Thahasildar and owners of a building at Pulamon Junction, David William Isaac and Mathew William.

The building owners had rented out some shops. While only two square meters from the building was required to be acquired for the M.C. Road development project, the owners allegedly wanted the whole building to be acquired.

This was because they wanted to get rid of the problem with the tenants by making the Government acquire the whole building, the VACB office here informed.

It is alleged that Suresh and Haridas helped the building owners in this connection and submitted reports citing that the whole building was required for the project.

In due course the building was taken over and a compensation of Rs. 6,63,673 was paid to the owners.

The VACB probe showed that this had brought about a loss of Rs.6,61,302.68 to the exchequer.

The actually needed two square meters would have cost only Rs. 2370.32 for the exchequer.

The probe was conducted by VACB Circle Inspector V. Radhakrishna Pillai on the basis of a complaint submitted by two tenants of the building to the VACB director in January 2006.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Yuva mandalam to organise Gandhi Jayanti programmes
Governor to inaugurate golden jubilee celebrations
Land acquisition: cases against four
Kollam to be made plastic-free soon
ESI model hospital to be commissioned by year-end

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu