Kasaragod: The government has suspended from service a Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) suspected of taking bribes from driving school agents to issue driving licences in Kanhangad.
In an order dated May 30, transport secretary Biju Prabhakaran suspended Motor Vehicle Inspector Prasad K R, responsible for conducting driving tests for Kanhangad Sub-Regional Transport Office (RTO).
The suspension comes two years and eight months after the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB) seized nearly Rs 2.70 lakh of unaccounted-for money from two driving agents near the Guruvanam test ground.
In September 2021, the Anti-Corruption Bureau in Kasaragod got a tip-off that Ruby Driving School's agent Noushad and Nithyananda Driving School's agent Vinod were collecting money from driving licence applicants arriving at Kanhangad Sub-RTO's test ground at Guruvanam.
Based on the information, the VACB officials conducted a surprise inspection at the testing ground on September 29, 2021. According to the order, the VACB officials found that driving schools were operating from a building near the ground.
They seized Rs 2,69,960 from Ruby Driving School's Noushad and ABC Driving School's Rameez.
In a letter to the MVD on June 30, 2022, the VACB director alleged the unaccounted-for money was collected from licence applicants and was to be handed over to Motor Vehicle Inspector Prasad K R, Joint RTO H S Chegla and other RTO officials who were on duty that day.
The VACB officials also found that the applications which were supposed to be with Prasad were with Ruby Driving School's Noushad. They said the Motor Vehicle Department had made available its services online but the officials were sabotaging the transparent system.
In his order, Transport Secretary Prabhakaran said the government examined the matter and decided to suspend Prasad from service, pending inquiry, based on the findings of the VACB and recommendations of the VACB director.
