ED attaches assets of former TNPCB official
The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached six immovable properties worth Rs 1.12 crore, and unaccounted cash of Rs 3.59 crore, 61 gold coins, gold ornaments and silver articles weighing 3,625.80 grams and 6,492 grams respectively recovered from the premises of Pannirselvam, former joint chief environmental engineer of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).
The attachment comes after the ED conducted a probe based on an FIR registered by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). The DVAC sleuths had seized cash and gold jewellery from his residence in Ranipet in 2020.
The assets seized were stated to have been accumulated through bribe collected from private firms seeking clearance of the pollution watchdog. Six divisions - Vellore, Vaniyambadi, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Hosur and Dharmapuri - falls under Pannirselvam’s jurisdiction.