Southern Railway: Land scam surfaces in marriage hall of staff society
In yet another case of misappropriation of funds in the Southern Railway Employees Cooperative Credit Society, Tiruchy, the General Manager of the society was charged with irregularities to the tune of Rs 8.39 crore.
Tiruchirapalli: The present scam relates to the purchase of a land for the construction of a wedding hall near the Central bus stand here. It is said, the Southern Railway Employees Cooperative Credit Society, Tiruchy, had purchased 75 cents from the Kothari Industrial Corporation in 2010 through a power agent identified as P Krishnamurthy and the deal was done to the tune of Rs 5 crore.
The land was registered at Tiruchy sub-registrar’s office on June 21, 2011 (Reg No 7048/2011) and the amount was credited at the State Bank of India, Tiruchy on the same day by way of two Demand Drafts Rs 5 crore (DD No: 065891) and Rs 8.39 crore (DD No: 065092). Though the original cost of the land is Rs 5 crore, the amount figured as Rs 13.39 crore in the society.
“This shows that the second DD worth Rs 8.39 crore was a fraudulent act by the general manager of the society Ramalingam. He has a close association with SRMU general secretary N Kanniah. Following this, the railway board has sought an enquiry into the fraud by the CBI,” said DREU Deputy General Secretary D Manoharan.
He added that the Kothari industries had admitted that they had sold the land for Rs 5 crore to the railway board during an inquiry.
Manoharan also said that the Tiruchy railway society owned the wedding hall, which was inaugurated by Kanniah on June 8, 2016. The modern air-conditioned hall was rented for Rs 2 lakh per day and the accounts were also verified. The officials involved in the scam should be brought under the investigation net, Manoharan said.
Courtesy: TOI