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DVAC busts copra scam in Pudukottai district

By S. Ganesan

TIRUCHI FEB. 11. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption claimed to have unearthed a Rs. 2.80-crore scam in procurement of copra at the primary agricultural cooperative bank (PACB) at Keeranur in Pudukottai district during the previous DMK regime, and conducted searches in the houses of eight persons in Pudukottai and Tiruchi today.

During 2000-01, 506 tonnes of copra was procured through the PACB from 189 farmers. However, a majority of them were alleged to be traders and businessmen, who had produced certificates from village administrative officers claiming to be farmers with land holdings and coconut groves. The procurement was made in violation of the government norm that copra be purchased only from producers. Investigations revealed that many of them did not have any land holding and some of the survey numbers and addresses given by them were found to be fictitious, said DVAC sources.

The houses of the former president of the PACB and DMK Kunnandarkovil Union Secretary, K.K.Anbuselvan; the bank secretary, Ramaiyya; and the clerk, Rajagopal, all at and around Keeranur, and an assistant of the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation, Gunasekaran, at Pudukottai, were among those searched.

The DVAC men also raided the houses of Kannaiyan, a businessman at Pudukottai, and Manivannan, a "farmer" at Pasumalaipatti near Keeranur. Simultaneously, the houses of R. Annadurai, a former employee of K.N. Ramajayam, brother of the former Cooperatives Minister, K.N. Nehru, and another associate of his at K.K. Nagar in Tiruchi were searched.

The searches went on for over four hours including at a hutment dwelling of Mr. Annadurai, tucked away in a narrow bylane on Perumal Kovil Street, Woraiyur. Incriminating documents on purchase of property, running into several lakhs of rupees, were reportedly seized during the raids.

Besides, Rs. 61,000 in unaccounted cash was seized from the house of a relative of Arun, one of the persons allegedly involved in the scam, at K.K.Nagar here, the sources claimed.

The searches at Keeranur and Pudukottai were conducted by separate teams led by T. Kumarasamy and R.Govindaraju, DSPs.

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