Jr engineer booked for graft in Virudhunagar

MADURAI: Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption sleuths arrested V Ganesh (54), Junior Grade Engineer of Kariapatti Town Panchayat, Virudhunagar district, on Thursday on charges of demanding and obtaining a bribe. He was caught red-handed while taking the bribe at his office, sources said.

Additional Superintendent of Police Ramachandran said, N Palanikumar, a contractor dealing with projects concerning the municipality, the local body and PWD, was assigned the task of building a modern gas crematorium at Kariapatti.

As per the agreement, the contractor completed the construction project in 2022 at an estimated cost of Rs 1.38 crore. After the completion of the project, the contractor was paid through a cheque, and an amount of Rs 19,36,124 was kept pending. When the contractor approached the engineer, he demanded Rs 3.50 lakh as a bribe for releasing the rest of the money. When the contractor told the engineer of his inability to pay the bribe, he asked him to pay Rs 50,000 and the rest of the amount later.

Further, unwilling to pay the bribe, the contractor Palanikumar lodged a complaint before the DVAC, Virudhunagar Detachment on Tuesday, and subsequently an FIR was registered under section 173 of the BNSS Act.

The engineer Ganesh was caught red-handed while receiving the tainted bribe amount at his office. The chemical test was positive, and the bribe amount was also seized from the accused.