Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Home Department has suspended Prisons Deputy Inspector General (DIG) MK Vinod Kumar from service after the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) booked him in a corruption case.

The VACB initiated procedures to register a fresh case against the officer on December 22. According to reports, the VACB Director also recommended to the government that Vinod Kumar be suspended.

MK Vinod Kumar, who is serving as DIG at the Prisons and Correctional Services Department headquarters, was earlier booked for allegedly accepting bribes from prisoners to grant parole.

According to the FIR registered by the VACB Special Investigation Unit-I, Kumar allegedly received ₹1.80 lakh between March 1, 2024, and November 15, 2025, from prisoners and their relatives for arranging parole and other facilities inside jails.

The FIR further stated that Kumar was in contact with associates of criminals and prisoners and allegedly accepted bribes through Google Pay transactions to the accounts of relatives, including his wife.

Based on the payments, paroles were allegedly granted to prisoners lodged in central prisons at Thiruvananthapuram, Viyyur, Kannur, the High Security Prison at Viyyur, and other jails, the FIR alleged. 

On Saturday, VACB officials raided the DIG’s residence in Alappuzha and his official quarters in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the probe.