Prison warden suspended for collecting money via mother-in-law’s UPI account

CHENNAI: A warden at the Salem Central Prison has been suspended after being found guilty of misappropriating funds meant to be deposited into the prison account.

The warden allegedly collected money from inmates through his mother-in-law's Google Pay account over the course of a year, said a Maalaimalar report.

The Salem Central Prison houses over 1,200 inmates, including both convicts and those under trial.

Inmates are engaged in preparing snacks such as laddus, mixtures, biscuits, and buns, which are sold within the prison premises and also to the public from a stall located along the Salem-Yercaud Main Road.

Subramaniam (34), a prison warden, was responsible for handling the sale of these food items.

As per procedure, the money collected from sales is required to be deposited into the official prison account.

However, discrepancies in the accounts raised suspicion among the prison authorities.

Following an internal inquiry, inmates who had purchased snacks revealed that they had paid through Google Pay.

Further investigation revealed that the phone number linked to the GPay transactions belonged to Subramaniam’s mother-in-law.

It was discovered that approximately Rs 1.8 lakh had been transferred to her account over the past year.

Upon being questioned, Subramaniam reportedly confessed to diverting the funds for personal use.

In response, Acting Superintendent of Salem Prison, Vinoth, issued an order suspending Subramaniam from duty.

The incident has caused a stir within the prison administration.