KASARAGOD: The Department of Revenue has suspended Endosulfan Cell deputy collector Sajid S from service pending enquiry for allegedly taking bribes from illegal quarry owners.
According to the suspension order dated April 21, the department took cognisance of the news report of TNIE dated March 14 and the enquiry report of additional district magistrate (ADM) A K Ramendran to initiate a detailed enquiry against the officer. The department said Sajid's suspension was necessary as he could influence the enquiry.
On March 14, TNIE reported that Sajid allegedly took the vehicle of the Deputy Collector for Land Acquisition and went to inspect laterite stone quarries in Nettanige and Nattakal and allegedly took money from quarry owners.
The report was based on a complaint filed by Kasaragod Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) who alleged that Sajid took the money in his and tahsildar's names. Before filing the complaint with the district collector, the RDO had asked his personal security officer to conduct a discreet enquiry.
To be sure, quarry inspection was not a part of the job profile of the Deputy Collector of Endosulfan Cell.
On March 13, the minister for revenue K Rajan asked Collector Bhandari Swagat Ranveerchand to order an enquiry into the allegations and sought a report in two days. She in turn asked ADM Ramendran to conduct the departmental enquiry.
During the ADM's enquiry, quarry owners told him that a government vehicle with the name plate of the Deputy Collector for Land Acquisition (LA) had visited the quarries in Nattakkal and Nettanige on March 1, 2020. The quarry owners, however, did not identify the officer as Sajid nor did they admit to giving money to the officer.
The Deputy Collector for LA told the ADM that he did not use the vehicle on March 1, and so there was no entry in the vehicle's logbook.
However, the ADM found that on March 2 the vehicle was taken to Kendriya Vidyalaya in Nileshwar, which is 55km from the Collectorate in Kasaragod. The to and fro distance would be 110 km.
However, the entry in the logbook said the vehicle travelled 221 km to go to the school and return on March 2. The ADM in his report concluded there could be some truth to the allegation that the vehicle could have been taken to Nettanige and Nattakkal but a detailed enquiry was needed to confirm the suspicion.
The Department of Revenue said it studied the report in detail and the officials concerned could not explain the mismatch in the distance travelled by the vehicle on March 2, and the entry in the logbook. The matter needed a detailed enquiry but the Endosulfan Cell deputy collector Sajid could influence the probe and so he is being suspended from service, said the order.