DVAC crackdown: 16 held, Rs 4.3 cr and 519 svgn seized

The prize catch was in Vellore where the officials had seized Rs 3.25 crore, 450 sovereign and 6.5 kg of silver from the house of M Pannerselvam, Zonal Officer, Pollution Control Board.

The 16 arrested officials were identified as Vikraman, bill collector (Tiruvannamalai); Krishnan, Bill Collector (Madurai); Thennarasi, assistant engineer, Tangedco (Krishnagiri); Logambal, VAO and Geetha, office assistant to VAO (Namakkal); Velusamy, municipal revenue inspector (Sivaganga); Balasubramanian, BDO and Mahadev, assistant, BDO Office (Thanjavur); Karthikeyan, assistant divisional engineer, Tangedco (Vellore); Manikandan, VAO (Pudukottai); Palanisamy, foreman, Tangedco (Krishnagiri); C Sundar, BDO, Panchayat Union (Tiruvarur); Sasikumar, fire officer (Coimbatore); Tennarasu, assistant engineer, PWD (Pudukottai); Karthikeyan, tax collector (Virudhunagar); and Singaram, driver of the Deputy Collector, RMD (Ramanathapuram).

Meanwhile on Saturday, DVAC sleuths raided the office of the sub-registrar in Coimbatore and seized Rs 1.65 lakh from assistant document writer Kali Rajan and Rs 5,200 from sub-registrar Karthikeyan.