Home India Politics Kerala official, legislator in vigilance net

Kerala official, legislator in vigilance net

By IANS

Thiruvananthapuram : A senior Kerala bureaucrat and an opposition legislator have come under the vigilance net in separate cases of graft.

While bureaucrat T.O. Sooraj has been found involved in an alleged corruption case when he was district collector at Kozhikode, legislator U.C. Raman has been found to allegedly possess assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The vigilance department said it found that Sooraj was involved in a purchase deal worth Rs.6 million and filed a case against him at the Kozhikode vigilance court.

Vigilance chief and senior police official Siby Mathews had last week asked the state government to take action against Sooraj and suspend him.

The vigilance conducted an inquiry against Raman on the complaint by an individual and concluded that he had improved his financial position after becoming a legislator in 2001.

Raman is the lone Hindu among the five legislators in the Indian Union Muslim League party under which he contested as an independent with IUML support from the Kunnamangalam constituency in Kozhikode district in 2001 and 2006.

What action Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan takes against Sooraj is unclear as fighting corruption has been the pet issue with the Communist chief minister.