Kerala anti-corruption watchdog raids houses of top babus

Undaunted by the criticism against the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) for allegedly targeting top IAS officers, the anti-corruption watchdog filed a FIR against Additional Chief Secretary Tom Jose in disproportionate assets case on Friday and conducted raids in his residences. On Thursday, the Vigilance had come under criticism for raiding the house of Additional Chief Secretary KM Abraham. 

The vigilance raids at the residences of Tom Jose follow a secret investigation and a FIR filed against him in Ernakulam.  Earlier, the VACB had registered a case against the senior bureaucrat for incurring the loss of Rs. 1.21 crore to the exchequer by importing magnesium when he was the MD of the public sector unit KMML. 

In the FIR, the VACB alleged that Jose amassed wealth above  60% of his declared income. The IAS officer had allegedly bought 50 acres of rubber plantation in Maharashtra. 

Responding to the raid, Jose told Asianet News that it was a deliberate attempt to tarnish him. He said he was not afraid of any investigation and expressed surprised over the VACB move saying that the previous government had closed the investigation into the allegations after he furnished all the documents related to his wealth. 

Meanwhile, irate over targeting top bureaucrats, the IAS lobby is reported to have lodged their protest. Senior IAS officers met Chief Secretary SM Vijayanand and alleged that the Vigilance did not follow procedures before examining the house of  KM Abraham on Thursday. There are reports that the IAS lobby complained about VACB Chief Jacob Thomas for allegedly trying to give vent to personal grudge against bureaucrats.  

• VACB
• Jacob Thomas
• Tom Jose
• IAS-IPS tiff
• Kerala