Kottayam : A Pollution Control Board(PCB) employee was nabbed by Vigilance while walking away with bribe of Rs 25000 he received from a tyre factory owner in Kottayam. Arrested on bribe charges is : PCB District Officer, AN Harris.
Harris had asked the Pravitanam-based tyre company owner Jobin Sebastin to come over to office with Rs 25,000 in cash at 11 am Wednesday. Following the tip, Vigilance team hung around the place and caught the under-the-table deal red-handed.
Following this, sleuths conducted a raid of Hariss’s residence in Aluva and stumbled on Rs 16 lakh in loose cash. They also found record indicating a bank deposit of Rs 18 lakh by his name. The flat in Aluva is estimated to cost over Rs 80 lakhs. Harris also owns a house measuring above 2000 sq ft in Thiruvananthapuram.
Harris is attached to the Pravithanam office for six years now. A neighbour residing in the vicinity of PJ Tyres lodged repeated complaints on sound pollution the factory caused. Ordered by High Court six months ago, a team led by then PCB District Officer, Josemon, had carried out 3-day inspections in the factory premises. It was found that the noise generated from factory did not exceed permitted levels. However, the officer was not willing to file with the High Court a report favourable to the factory owner unless paid Rs 1 lakh in bribe. The owner was not willing to pay that kind of money. Meanwhile, Josemon was transferred to Thiruvananthapuram unit.
The factory owner approached High Court citing contempt of court over not filing report of the inspection. The court then ordered another inspection of the premises and issuance of license marking working hours for the factory. Harris demanded Rs 25,000 to do this – the call for bribe was recorded by Jobin and passed to the Vigilance.
Vigilance set up a red handed trap for the deal and on Wednesday whisked away Harris as he walked out of the office carrying the currency notes they had numbered and sprinkled with phenolphthalaein powder before handing it to the tyre factory owner for bribing. Hariss’s predecessor Josemon is 2nd accused in the case. Harris was arrested by Vigilance DySPs KA Vidyadharan and AK Viswanath in an operation led by Vigilance ASP VG Vinod Kumar.
