Kasaragod: The Department of Transport has suspended a motor vehicle inspector in Kasaragod after the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) allegedly caught him accepting money from an agent two and a half years ago.
Motor vehicle inspector (MVI) Anil Kumar V posted at the Kasaragod Regional Transport Office was suspended and will face a departmental inquiry, said transport secretary Biju Prabhakar in the order dated June 15.
The VACB conducted a surprise inspection at the Regional Transport Office on January 1, 2021 after receiving complaints that claimed officers were illegally collecting money for registering vehicles from Kerala and from outside the state. There were also complaints that they were accepting money from driving licence applicants and agents of driving schools.
During the inspection at the RT office, VACB found that Suresh, an agent, handed over the money to Anil Kumar, according to the suspension order. The money is shared with other officers. Apart from Kumar, other MVIs present at the office were Manu P R, Sudhakaran, Sujith George, and Manoj Kumar.
The VACB team found that MVI Kumar was in touch with Suresh over the phone and shared information with him.
The anti-corruption bureau also spotted a pile of applications for driving licences dated back to 2019 during the inspection in January 2021.
The Transport Secretary's order said there was a serious dereliction of duty on the part of MVIs Shankara Pillai, Reji Kuriakose, and Dinesh Kumar, and assistant vehicle inspector Abdul Navas, who were posted at the RTO during the period.
His order, however, mentioned no action against these officers.
Around two weeks ago, on May 30, the transport secretary suspended MVI Prasad K R, responsible for conducting driving tests for Kanhangad Sub-Regional Transport Office (RTO).
Prasad was suspended from service, pending inquiry, after VACB officers caught two agents of driving schools with Rs 2.70 lakh of unaccounted-for money at Guruvanam test ground in September 2021.