Corporation officer demoted as clip saying top official accepts bribe goes viral
In the audio clip, KV Ramani is allegedly heard saying that corporation Commissioner N Ravichandran had accepted bribes and that she was the intermediary in collecting the money.
Published: 04th June 2018 09:30 PM | Last Updated: 04th June 2018 09:30 PM | A+A A-
Representational Image. | Express
TIRUCHY: K V Ramani, an assistant revenue officer of the Ariyamangalam zone working with the Tiruchy corporation, has been demoted as a superintendent and transferred to Srirangam after a recorded phone conversation involving her spread on social media.
In the audio clip, Ramani is allegedly heard saying that corporation Commissioner N Ravichandran had accepted bribes and that she was the intermediary in collecting the money. The clip plays for a minute and 10 seconds and is a recording of a purported conversation between Ramani and P Abdul Azeez, president of the Butchers’ Association in Tiruchy.
According to official sources, Azeez was a successful bidder for the goat market and slaughterhouse near Gandhi Market with an allocated area of 21,661 sq. ft for three years from 2016. Azeez took over from April 2016 and was doing running shops No 7 and 8 at the market. But the corporation in November 2016 instructed him to shift to near Viragupettai on East Boulevard Road, citing renovation to be carried out at the market.
In the audio clip, Ramani allegedly directs Azeez to write a letter to the corporation saying that business in
Viragupettai is dull and hence he should be allotted shops No. 7 and 8 in Gandhi Market. She said Ravichandran would accept a bribe and asked Azeez to hand over the money for her to pass on to the commissioner.
Along with this audio clip, there is another phone conversation with an unidentified person from the Thoothukudi corporation alleging Ravichandran accepts bribes.
After the clips were widely shared on social media, Ravichandran demoted Ramani and posted her in the Srirangam zone.
An investigation is yet to be initiated to ascertain the veracity of the clips.
When contacted Azeez, he said, “I own the contract for the two shops in Gandhi Market. Until now, there was no update on my allotment of shops after the renovation. So I filed a case with the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court against the corporation and the court recently ordered an interim stay on tender proceedings intiiated by the civic body.”
Speaking to Express, Ravichandran said the audio clips were fake. “It is mainly meant to blackmail us and it does not make any sense. We will face this issue legally,” he said.
