Rs 2 crore, gold jewellery seized from PWD engineer’s house

KRISHNAGIRI: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) sleuths seized Rs 2 crore cash, property documents and ornaments worth several crores from the house of a PWD executive engineer in Hosur in Krishnagiri district on Wednesday.
The 58-year-old C N Shobana is working in the technical wing in the Vellore division, which covers Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupathur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai and Kallakurichi districts.This wing had given permission for constructing college buildings as part of government projects.
Vellore DVAC officials received a tip that Shobana has been receiving kickbacks from contractors to release payments. So, they conducted a search at her office on Monday night and seized Rs 5 lakh unaccounted money, according to an official, who was part of the search team. Another Rs 3.9 lakh unaccounted money was also seized from a room where she was staying in Vellore. Widening the search, a team led by Salem DSP Krishnarajan, inspectors Rajini Vel (Vellore) and Sultan (Krishnagiri) reached Shobana’s house in Hosur on Wednesday morning. “The search was started around 8am and continued till 3pm. We have seized Rs 2 crore cash, 11 bank passbooks, gold ornaments weighing 35 sovereigns, 1.3kg of silver ornaments, fixed deposit receipts for Rs 27.98 lakh and 14 property deeds worth several crores,” the official said.
DVAC has registered a case against the engineer and further inquiry is on.