Co"fidepllalllJrgs1Office of the Superintendent of Police,

Vigilance ancl Anti-Corruption l3ureau,

Hastern Railge, KottayamDatecl 27 /A4/2A09Ne. T-9015&?

FromK.j.Devasia IPS,

Superintendent of Police

ToThe Director,Vigilance and Anti-Corruption llureau'

ThiruvananthaPuramSir,

Sub:- Pertition from Sreejith, office Asst. of I-Ion' Minister of

Finance - enquiry report submitting

Ref:- l.lo.T-9015 /2009,dated 4/4/2009 of if," Director, VACB,

ThiruvananthaPuram

Kinct attention is invited to the reference cited'

A petitio:r submitted by shri.R.sreejith, office Asst., of Minister of

Finance, forwarded through the Director Geueral of Police received at

VACB Directorate was forwarded to the Supdt.of Police, VACB,

Eastern Range, Kottayam for conducting a personal enquiry.

Accordingly, the supdt.of Polite, vAcB, Eastern Range, Kottayam

had conducied enquiry into the allegations raised in the petition and

hence thls rePort"

It is alleged in the petition that shri. R.Sreejith, who is working as

office Asst. to I-Ion. Minister of Finance is getting threatening calls to

his phone, and the threat is against FIon. Minister also. The threat is

sequel tc the Surprise Check of Dy.Supdt. of Police, Vigilance & Anti-

Corrupt;on llureau, 'Ihrissur at the Sales Tax office, Thlissur cn

1,8/3/2a0g. The Dy.Sup<tt.of l,olice hacl insulted the Sales Tax

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officials and directed the Sales Tax officials to release a l<;rry loadec',-

with timber, which r,r'as seized by the Sales Tax officials on 77 /3/2409

for evasion of tax. The Sales tax officials informed Hon. Minister for

Finance about the incidcnt. I-Ion. Ministcr contacted Shri. Safiulla

Syed, Dy.Supdt.of Police, Vigilance & Anti-corn.rption ISureau,

Tl-rrissur and tr>ld hirn not io harass the Sales Tax cfficials in iireir

official c{uties and there is no objection in taking leg;al steps by the

Dy.Supdt.of Police. This telephone call by the I-Ion. Minister was

mac{e from the mobile phone of Shri.R.Sreejith. After this call,

Strri.Sreej ith started getting threat'ening calls.

Supdt.of Police, Vigilance & Anti-corruption Bureau, Eastern

Range, Kottayam had enquired about the allegation against Safiulla

Syed, Dy.Supctt.of Police, Vigilance & Anti-corruption Bureau,

Thrissur. During the course of the enquiry file No. SC.4/09-TCR of

VACB Unit, Thrissur \^ras perused and statements of following

witnesses were recorded.

1. Sri "Iay anandakunlar, agcr 48 /09, Inspecting Asst"

Commissioner, Intelligence, Commercial Taxes, Thrissur

2. Shri.R.Rajesh age34/A9, Intelligence Officer, Squad No.2, office

of IAC (lntelligence) Commercial Taxes, Thrissur.

3. Shri.C. /ijayakurnar,4Tf 09, Intelligence Inspector, Squad No.II,

Office of IAC llntelligence), Commercial laxes, Th:'issur

4. Shri.Saju, Nanibadan, age 39/09, Intelligence Officer 0B)

Commercial Taxes,'l'hrissur.

5. Shri. P.A. Abhilash, 33/09, intelligence Officer, ixluad No.I,

office crc thc IAC (lntclligence), Cornmercial Taxes, '[hrissur.

6. Shri. K.B. Rugrn ani, 50/09, Contmercial T'axes, Inspector (II3),

office 9f the IAC (lntelligence), (lommercial T'axes, Thrissur

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7. Smt. K.I-I.Laila 53/}g,Commercial Taxes Inspector (II3) office of

IAC (lntelligence) Conrmercial'faxes, Thrissur

8. Shri.C.I(.Peter, 47/09, I-D Clerk, office of IAC (Intelligence),

Commercial Taxes, T'hrissur

on perusal of the file of sc.4/09/TSR it is found that

the Surprise Check was ordered by the Supdt.of Police, VACB,

cenrral Range, Kochi on 17/3/2009 and <>n18/3/2009 evening the

Surprise Checks were conducted at three offices of Commercial Taxes,

Thrissur by the Dy.supctt.,of Police, VACB f'hrissur and party. The

Dy. Supdt.of Police, VACB, Thrissur and Shri. V.V.Jobi, Agrl. Officer

conducted Surprise Check at the office of the Inspecting Asst'

Commissioner (Intelligence) Commercial Taxes, Thrissur, and office

of the Dy. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Works, Contract and

Luxury Taxes) from 18.30 hrs. to 20.30 hrs. shri.T.I. Joshi, Drugs

Inspector ar,cl Inspector of Police, VACB conducted the Surprise

Check at C<>mmercial Taxes, First Circle Office, Thrissur from 17'00

hrs to 18.00 hrs. and Shri. P.M.Jayan, Drug Inspector and Inspector of

Police, VACB conducteC the Surprise Check at Commercial Taxes,2nd

Circle office, Thrissur from '1.6.15 hrs. to 19'15.hrs'

The Dy,Supdt.of Police, VACB, Thrissur and party detected

excess amount of Rs,2,830/- from 4 persons. He found Rs. 2,000/-

kept in thc shelf by Shri. C,Vijayakumar, Inspector, who was on field

duty. T'he surprise Check team recovered Rs. 5,500/- from the

possessiort of one Santhosh \arayanan, who was found in the cabin

of Shri.P.l.Robert, Commercial Tax Officer. The other two Surprise

Check teams did not detect any irregularity.

while the surprise check was going on at the office

IAC, the driver of lorry KL-1.1,/D-5819, Shri.C.A llava come to

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office ancl tolc{ Dy.Supdt.of I'olice that the commercial Ta:< officer

(Intelligence) checkecl his vehicle on the early hours of 17 /3/ 2009 and

servecl him a notice u/sec. 47(2) directing to remit Rs-30,000/- or Pay

a bribe of I{s. 10,000/-. Dy.Supdt.of Police verified thc matter with

Shri.Viiayakumar, the Comrnercial Tax Officer' Shr;'Viiayakumar

irrformecl Dy.Supclt.of Police that he checked the lorry on17 /3/2009

and found that the lorry was carrying2.7550 M: timbe.. The Driver

informed him that the timbcr was for self use. Since there was no

document to support this claim, he issued notice u/sec. 47 (2), to

clirecting to remit the security cleposit of Rs. 30,836/- for releasing the

vehicle. Dy.Supclt.of Police perused the documents and found that

the timber \ /as purchased from MM Sawmill and Industries'

Movattupuzha on 1,6/3/20a9. l'ax of Rs. 11,295 f - wtts paid at the

time of purchase. Delivery note is also available. The Commercial

Tax Check-post .at Karukutty had checked the vehicle, and did not

detect any irregularity. (All these facts are available in the inventory

prepared for the Surprise Check)'

on20-S.0g,theDy.Supdt.ofPolicecalledtheCommercial 'I ax officials to his office, for verification of the facts

about detention of lorry and timbcr. on 21/3/2009, the Hon'

Minister for Finance, contacted Dy.supdt.of Police, vAtlB, Thrissur

over telepl-rone and enquirecl about the harassment cf Sales Tax

Officials. I-Ion. Minister told the Dy.Supdt.of Police not to cause

unnecessary harassment to Commercial Tax Officials, otherwise' he

will have to face consequences. Cfhese facts are menticned in the

report of Dy'Supctt' of Police, VACI], Thrissur, submitted to the

Director, VACII, Thiruvananthapuram')

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I have recorcled the statement of 8 officials of Commercial f'axes

Departm€nt, l'hrissur. I)iscussecl the matter with Sri. Safiulla S;4ed,

Dy.Supclt. of Police, VACI], 'I.hrissur. 'l'he Commercial Tax officials

are unanimous in their allegation that thc Dy.Supdt- of I'olice had

behaveC in a l'ucle manner to them while conducting Surprise Check'

The srrrprise Check officer sri. v.v. Jobi, Agricuitural officer,

however, clenies any ill-bei"raving from the part of vACIl, officials' It

was found that the Surprise Check was conductecl in the presence of

visual media. I have also conductecl enquiries at Randathani in

Malappuram District, t() ascertain the facts about the timber lorry

seizecl by officials of Commercial Taxes anci it was found that the

tirnber r,r,as not for the own use of Shri. Pocker, as claimecl by him'

ljromthestatementsofwitnessesandperusalof

documents, it is disclosec{ that on 17/3/2009 early morning the

officials of rjommercial faxes (Intelligence) Thrissur detained the

lorry KL-1l-D/5879, which was carrying timber. fhe officers i:;sued

notice U /s. 7Q) of KVA'I' Act clirecting Sri. Pocker Mankkattil to

remit security amouni of Rs.30,836/-. 'fhe timber was transported

with a valicl clelirrery note ancl it was checked at the Commercial

Taxes check post at Karukutty.,. on its way from Muvattupuzha to

Randathani. No violation of rules'',was detected by the check post

officials. '1he lorry driver and sri.I'ocker believed that Commercial

tax officials are harassing them, without any legal backing fot

extracting bribe from them. Ilut the Commercial 'fax ofiiciais were

acting on information that timber is being transported from

Ir4oovatt.rpuzha to Ranclathani for business Purpose bui 5l-Icrt'\ring in

the recorcis as 'not for sale'. If timber is transported for own use/

for rcsalt:, allcl

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Clorrt" flets tax for the 1't sale {)nly. Il it is trallsporteci

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thesameisprop{:r1vacC()irn,|cd,Govt.wi1lgettaxforalltlre

subsequent sales. Cln that information Commercial l'ax Intelligence

squad. of Thrissur checked tl-rc vehicles and served legal notice to Sri.

P<lcker. Ilut Dy.Supctt. of Ilolice, VACI], Thrissi-tr rcceived

infortnation that Cgmmcrcial I'ax officials are haras:;ing thc lorry

clriver for bribe. With this trackgr<)und, Dy.Supctt. of i:trlice, VACIJ,

f'hrissur arranged the Surprisc Check.

During the Sgrprisc Clhcck Dy.Supdt. of Police, VACI] had

orally clirectecl the Cornnrcrcial 'l'ax officials to release the vehicle

n,ith timber after obtaining f<rrm 1'6 under KVAT rules. Ilut

Commercial f'ax officials ciicl not release the vehicle, since their

enquiry revealecl that thc particulars mentioned in the 'Iiorm 16'

furnishecl by Sri. Pockcr, r\'cre false. 'l'hcy insistcd for depositing

I{s.30,836/- as security. I.rr thc meanwhile Sri. Pocker filed WPO

g3g3/0g beforc FIon. Fligh Court for the release of Lne lorry ancl

timber. I{on I-lig Court clircctcc{ Sri. Pockcr to remit lts.7,000/- in

cash as security and furnish b<lnd for the balance amount. Sri' i)ocker

had complieci with the clircction of FIon. I{igir Court and the vehicle

and timberd/as releasccl.

Dy.Supdt. of Police had called the Commercial Tax officials to his

oifice op 20-3-09 for verificati<ln of the alle$ation about trarassment of

lorry clriver. At that time it is allegc'd that Dy.Supdir. of Police

behavecl, in an insulting; manner towarcis the Comniercial T'ax

officials. 'fhc Commcrcial 'l'ax officials haci informecl the matter t<l

I-lon.Minister fctr Finance. Accorclingly FIon. I\4inislcr'i:rrtactcd

Dy.Supclt. of Policc, VhCli, 'l'hrissur on the nlobile phrlne of

Sri. R.Sreejith. Immecliately after the conversation of llon' lv{inister

n'ith Dy.Supclt. of I'olicc, VACI], 'l'hrissur, the cletails about the

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discussion witir I-{on. Minister was leakecl to the public and nredia'

Mr. Sreejith receivecl many threatening calls in his phone' A news

item about tlre call of I-Ion, lr4inister was published in 'Manorama

News', channel, showing Dy.supdt. of I']oiice sri. safiulla syed

con<iucting thi: Surprise Check. T'his leaking of information reacl with

the presence of media pelsons at the time of Surprise Check suggcsts

that Sri. Safiulla Syecl, himself is responsible for informing the rnedia

and other public about the telephone call of I-Ion' Ivlinister' I-Ion'

Minister haci contacted Sri. Safiulia Syecl, Dy.Supdt' of Police, VACIJ'

Thrissur not for any illegal action. I-Ion. Minister intervened, when he

received information that his officials are being humiliated by the

Dy.Supclt. of Police. Ilon. Minister was conveying the message that

he will stand by his officers, whenever they face unnecessary

harassment.

The enquir'Y discloses that:

(1) Sri. Safiulla Syed, Dy.Supdt. of Police, VACI], Thrissur hacl

conclucted surprise Check No.4/09/TSR, at the office of

Intelligence Asst. Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Thrissur,

with a prejudicial view that the commercial T'ax officials are

cletaining timber lorry KI.-11-D / 581,9, fdr" exLracting bribe'

(2) The performance of Dy.Supdt. of Police duiing and after the

Surprise Check at the Commercial taxes office, 'Ihrissur had a

demoralizing effect on the Commercial Tax officials, who had

performc'cl their official duty.

(3) Dy.Supclt. of Police hacl utilizecl the services of an Agricultural

officer to conduct Surprise Check at the office of Corr'mercial

-faxes. An officer who cloes not know anything about the working

of an<ltl'rer Department, can ]1<lt properly cletermine rn'hether the

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actions of thc other. clepartmcnt zlrc in accordance with the

prevailing rules and Broccc{UIcs.

(a)Dy.Supdt. 6f Police:Safiq.lia Syed knon'ingly or unknowipgly

ensurecl the presence ef metlia PcrSOns at the office t;f Commercial

' 'l.axes cluring tl-re Surprise Check.

(5)Dy.Supcit. of l)olicc Siifiulia Syecl haci leaked the conversatiorr of

F{on. N4inister with him, ttl the public, in such a martner that i-lon.

l\tfinister has uu-necessarilt' interfered in his official r'vork, r'r'hcreas

I-{on. Ministcr was remincling the Dy. Supdt. of Iroiice that his

approach is r,rrrong ancl hc has excccded his authority in directing

the Commcrcial Tax ofiicials to rclcase the lorry an<i timbcr.

I'herefore, I recomnrcncl clepartment disciplinary action aqainst

Shri. Safiulla S1recl, t)y.Sr-rPr'lt.of I)olice, VACII, T'hrissur for the

i rreg.ularities cl iscu ssccl abo.r'c.

Yours faithfully,

\-_ \------r/ \

Superirrtenclent ol Irolice,

Vigilancc ancl A:"ti-Corruption Ilureau ,Ilastcrn Range, KoiraYam

Encl: 1)Statements of l'Vts. 1 to I2) Report of Safiulla Sveci, Dy.Supdt.of l)oiice clated 25/3/2009

3) Joint Inventories clatccl 78/3/2009 -3 Nos'

4) Original reference5) Surprisc Chcck Ortlcr No.C-5234/08/CRIr with pr:tition'