The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) has taken action by registering a case against an Inspector and a Sub-Inspector (SI) in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur district for their involvement in a bribery scandal. The two police officers are accused of demanding and accepting bribes from a businessman in exchange for not registering a case against him and refraining from taking any action in a cheating complaint in 2021.
The investigation has revealed that the accused officers had demanded a bribe of Rs 1 crore to avoid filing a case against the businessman. Additionally, they sought Rs 6 crore to ensure no further action would be taken against him. It was also reported that they had already received an advance payment of Rs 10 lakh. Notably, the officers had collected bribes using the name of the then Superintendent of Police (SP) of Thanjavur, Deshmukh Sekar Sanjay.
The DVAC has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the Inspector of Police, S Somasundaram, from Padanallur police station in Thanjavur, and the Sub-Inspector, K Kannan, from Tiruvarur, in connection with the bribery case.
According to the FIR, two individuals named Raghuprasanth and Srinivasan had lodged a complaint with the crime branch in Thanjavur against the brothers MR Ganesh and MR Swaminathan. The complainants had invested money in the brothers' finance institution with the expectation of substantial returns. Raghuprasanth had deposited Rs 2 crore, while Srinivasan had deposited Rs 38 lakh.
Reports suggest that the brothers swindled Rs 600 crores of deposit money received from several people.
Following the complaint, S Somasundaram, who was then serving as Inspector in the Special Branch, and K Kannan, who was posted at Boothalur police station, approached MR Ganesh at a private hotel. They demanded a total payment of Rs 7 crore to ensure that no complaint would be filed against him and no legal action would be taken regarding the alleged fraud. Furthermore, they insisted on receiving Rs 10 lakh in advance as a confirmation of the deal, using the name of the Thanjavur SP. In April 2021, Ganesh's staff from Kumbakonnam handed over the advance amount to the two officers at a restaurant near the SP's camp office, DVAC’s investigation has revealed.
As complaints against the officers surfaced, the then SP Deshmukh Sekar Sanjay transferred both individuals to other districts. However, based on preliminary evidence, the DVAC has now initiated a case against the accused officers. The investigation into the matter is currently underway.