Health official held for bribery in Tiruvannamalai

According to the police, Tilak Chandru, a resident of Chengam and owner of a marriage hall in the town, had applied for renewal of the hall’s certificate with the office of the Deputy Director (Health Services). 

He was, however, made to run from pillar to post for over a month before he approached Sunder Rajan, personal assistant (technical) to the deputy director. He, however, demanded a bribe of Rs 12,000, which was – after negotiations – finally reduced to Rs 10,000.

Tilak then approached vigilance officials here who, in turn, provided him with chemical-coated notes to trap the official. When Tilak handed over the notes to Sunder Rajan in his office on Monday, DVAC sleuths, who were lying in wait, caught him red-handed.

The DVAC team also conducted a search on the health official’s office in the presence of Collector (trainee) M Prathap.

During the check, the team found out that the health certificate had already been signed by the DD and that Sunder had intentionally delayed the release of the certificate to make money. He was later remanded to judicial custody.