Vigilance nabs woman after ₹1.26 cr meant for SC women siphoned off in TVM Corporation

Thiruvananthapuram: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday arrested a woman for allegedly misappropriating ₹1.26 crore from a Thiruvananthapuram Corporation scheme meant to provide subsidies to self-employment ventures run by women from the Scheduled Caste community.

The accused is Bindu L (47, a native of Thiruvallam in Thiruvananthapuram. She is the eighth accused in the case, according to the Vigilance.

The case relates to irregularities in the disbursement of loan subsidies under a self-employment scheme implemented by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation for Scheduled Caste women during the 2020-21 financial year.

According to Vigilance, fake documents were created to show that ₹1.26 crore in subsidies had been distributed to beneficiary groups. However, the actual beneficiaries did not receive the benefits. Instead, the money was transferred to various bank accounts of a private institution.

During the investigation, Vigilance officials found that Bindu had conspired with the other accused in the case. They also found that ₹36 lakh of the misappropriated funds had reached Bindu's bank account.

Several others have already been arrested in connection with the case. They include former Industrial Extension Officer of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Praveen Raj, former SC promoters Sindhu S and Ajitha, former manager of Pattom Service Cooperative Bank Sony, and document writer Suresh Babu.

Bindu was produced before the Vigilance Court in Thiruvananthapuram and remanded in custody.

The Vigilance arrest is part of “Project Zero”, an initiative aimed at taking stringent action against corruption.