Thiruvananthapuram: Large-scale corruption and irregularities were unearthed in a state-wide inspection by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) across Kerala’s Revenue Divisional Offices (RDOs) and Deputy Collector offices on Friday.

The operation, codenamed ‘Haritha Kavacham’, found widespread violations in the deletion of entries on wetlands and paddy fields from the state’s official Data Bank, in breach of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act. Several officials were found to have accepted bribes, both directly and through agents, to issue favourable reports for illegal land conversion.

In Ernakulam district, a major find was the detection of ₹4.59 lakh transferred via Google Pay to an official at the Muvattupuzha RDO office from an agency handling reclassification processes. Vigilance officials also uncovered suspicious transactions amounting to ₹11.69 lakh through the Google Pay account of another officer from the same office.

In Malappuram, Vigilance found that an applicant whose earlier plea for Data Bank exclusion was rejected had re-registered the property under another name, reapplied, and obtained approval by influencing officials. One office had 11 applications listing the same phone number, suggesting agent involvement.

In Kannur, at the Thaliparamba RDO office, land was excluded from the Data Bank without the required Agricultural Officer’s report. In another case, the RDO granted conversion even after the Kannur District Collector had rejected the application.

In Kozhikode, the office of the Deputy Collector (Revenue Recovery) was found sitting on applications pending since 2021 without action.

The inspections revealed that wetlands and paddy fields were being excluded from the Data Bank and converted for commercial use in clear violation of the law. In several districts, field verification showed that land, including natural water channels, had been filled and converted.

Vigilance officials also found that in many cases, reclassification orders were issued without ensuring that 10% of land above 20.20 ares was set aside for water conservation, as mandated by law.

The state-wide operation, conducted from 10.30 am to 6 pm on November 7, covered 69 offices — including 27 RDOs and 32 Deputy Collector offices — under the direction of VACB Director Manoj Abraham IPS. Files related to applications submitted since 2023 for Data Bank exclusion and land reclassification were examined.

The Vigilance Bureau has taken a serious view of the findings and announced that follow-up inspections and field verifications will continue in the coming days. Suspicious cases will be further investigated using satellite imagery from the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre (KSRSEC). The VACB will also scrutinise the bank account statements of the involved officials, their family members, and agents to trace illegal monetary transactions.