Kottayam: There are reports of involvement of top officials behind disbanding the vigilance team of the Devaswom Board. The move was spearheaded by those fearing arrest if the fake bills at the Sabarimala guest house and the irregularities in the toilet construction comes out.
Mathrubhumi on Saturday reported that four people, including two SIs, were removed from the vigilance section of the Devaswom Board. Only the SP, who is soon to retire, was retained and the rest were returned to the police.
Vigilance had found inflated bill for food that was provided to the dignitaries and higher officials staying in the guest house. Dignitaries who visit Sabarimala must bear the cost of food themselves. For years, the expenses of the guest house had not been audited and hence a big scam was reported. Even when the Special Commissioner was not present in Sabarimala, his food expenses were recorded.
Senior Devaswom officials are likely to be held responsible if the case was taken up by the Vigilance. Officials were alarmed when the Devaswom Vigilance identified a few cases and handed them over to the state vigilance. Fearing further problems, the vigilance team was dissolved with the help of the Devaswom Minister’s staff.
Also, officials were worried over the irregularities in the construction of toilets. Though a Karnataka native had offered to build toilets for free, the Devaswom avoided him saying he must bear the maintenance cost too. Temporary toilets were built without inviting tenders.
Vigilance has finally uncovered a Rs 4 crore scam in maintenance works. Inspection of 270 constructions worth Rs 1.60 cr coming under the Mavelikkara group alone revealed a fraud worth Rs 60 lakh.
Normally, only the Devaswom Board considers reports of corruption and slowly nullifies it in a phased manner. However, former board president N Vasu handed over the corruption reports to the police vigilance for further action and hence the move to dissolve the vigilance team was mooted.
