VACB raids 59 revenue offices; uncovers corruption in paddy, wetland conversions

The VACB said a state-wide raid in the offices of Deputy Collectors and Revenue Divisional Officers found ''corruption and irregularities'' in the conversion of paddy and wetland areas.

The surprise inspections were carried out on Friday in the offices of 27 RDOs and 32 Deputy Collectors, who are tasked with enforcing the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, said in a press release.

VACB Director Manoj Abraham had authorised the operation—code-named Haritha Kavacham—after the agency received information that wetlands and paddy fields were being widely excluded from the data bank.

Some officials, either directly or through agents, were allegedly collecting bribes from applicants to carry out such irregularities, in violation of the Act and related rules and regulations, it said.

The surprise raids uncovered a racket centred around these offices, involving land mafia and real estate agents, where paddy and wetland areas excluded from the data bank were being converted into plots, and houses were constructed for sale, the release said.

Some officials, in return for bribes, were reportedly providing favourable reports to facilitate the conversion of these lands in violation of the rules, it added.

Describing the modus operandi, the agency said land mafia gangs dumped illegally mined earth to convert paddy fields and wetlands into plots for construction.

In Malappuram district, VACB inspections found that a single mobile phone number was used by 11 title deed holders seeking reclassification of their paddy fields as dry land, the release said.

At the RDO office in Taliparamba, Kannur, the agency observed large-scale exemptions from the data bank to benefit real estate development, it said.

In the Muvattupuzha RDO office in Ernakulam, illegal transactions between real estate developers and revenue officials amounting to over Rs 16 lakh were uncovered, the release added.