Palakkad: After the arrest of village field assistant V Sureshkumar (51 years) in a bribery case, more officials at the Palakkayam village office have come under the vigilance radar. Lakhs of rupees were recovered in a raid conducted at Sureshkumar’s rented house on Wednesday. However, the Palakkayam village officer, in his statement issued to the vigilance,  claimed innocence and said he was ‘unaware’ of Sureshkumar’s shady deals.

It is said that Sureshkumar who was under the vigilance observation was warned earlier by the special branch officials, on the basis of complaints received against him. He was caught red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 2,500 during an adalat. A whopping Rs 35 lakhs was recovered in the search operations conducted in his rented house. Apart from this 17 kgs of coins (amounting to Rs 9,508), and documents relating to various investments over Rs 71 lakhs were also recovered. 

Also Read

placeholder

Palakkad bribery incident disgrace to state, corrupt officers will face stern action: CM Pinarayi

The villagers made allegations that the corrupt officer had been accepting bribes in various forms. Items such as honey, tamarind, over 150 pens, new shirts, and bedsheets were among the belongings recovered in his room.

Sureshkumar confessed that he accepted bribes for building a new house. The officer who was suspended from service after his arrest, was produced at the Thrissur vigilance court, and was sent to remand until June 7.