Bribe for one sub-registrar seized from another’s car, DVAC registers case
The FIR that the agency filed last week named B Aruna (49), who was earlier working as the sub-registrar of Periyanaickenpalayam and currently sub-registrar (guideline) at the district registrar office in Karaikudi.
Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption
CHENNAI: In an interesting twist to an ongoing probe into a corruption case in the Registration Department, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) has formally registered a case against two individuals, including a serving sub-registrar, following the seizure of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 12.9 lakh from another sub-registrar’s car in October 2024 in Coimbatore.
The FIR that the agency filed last week named B Aruna (49), who was earlier working as the sub-registrar of Periyanaickenpalayam and currently sub-registrar (guideline) at the district registrar office in Karaikudi.
Aruna is accused of demanding the bribe while serving in Periyanaickenpalayam. The anti-corruption watchdog also named P Prasanth (25), a private individual from Saravanampatti in Coimbatore who was working as a driver, for allegedly acting as the intermediary and facilitating the collection of the bribe amount.
The investigation stems from a trap operation conducted on October 9, 2024, at the Singanallur Sub-Registrar Office. During that operation, sub-registrar Nancy Karoline was caught red-handed while she was accepting a bribe. As part of the follow-up investigation, DVAC officials searched the car (TN37DE1518) which was used by Karoline that day.
During the search, officials discovered Rs 12.99 lakh in unaccounted cash stashed inside the vehicle. While Karoline disowned the money and maintained that she had nothing to do with it, Prasanth, who was present at the scene, reportedly confessed that the cash was a bribe demanded by Aruna from P Sathishkumar, a partner in a real estate firm named Mayon Foundation.
The officials claimed that Prasanth admitted that Aruna demanded the bribe for processing a "road gift" deed related to the 'Golden Gate' farm plot project in Athipalayam and that he aided in its collection and brought the money to the SRO on that day.
Gathering courage after the seizure and media reports of Karoline's arrest, Sathishkumar filed a formal complaint with the DVAC on October 15, 2024.
The DVAC said its investigation found Prasanth's confession and Sathishkumar's complaint to be credible. The seized cash of Rs 12.99 lakh included the Rs 12 lakh specifically mentioned in the complaint, plus an additional Rs 99,600 under suspicious circumstances. The DVAC formally registered the case earlier this month.
