Bribery Scandal Rocks Kerala Officials: Paddy, Wetland Conversions Exposed

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Thiruvananthapuram: A massive crackdown by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has exposed a widespread bribery scandal involving over 50 officials in Kerala. The agency conducted searches in 59 offices of Deputy Collectors and Revenue Divisional Officers, uncovering corrupt deals in converting agricultural and wetland areas into housing plots. According to VACB Director Manoj Abraham, the operation, code-named Haritha Kavacham, was launched after the agency received information that wetlands and paddy fields were being systematically excluded from the data bank. The inspections revealed a racket involving land mafia and real estate agents, where paddy and wetland areas were being converted into plots, and houses were constructed for sale. The agency found that some officials were reportedly accepting bribes from applicants to carry out these irregularities, providing favourable reports to facilitate the conversion of these lands in violation of the rules. In Malappuram district, VACB inspections discovered that a single mobile phone number was used by 11 title deed holders seeking reclassification of their paddy fields as dry land. In the RDO office in Taliparamba, Kannur, the agency observed large-scale exemptions from the data bank to benefit real estate development. In the Muvattupuzha RDO office in Ernakulam, illegal transactions between real estate developers and revenue officials amounting to over ₹16 lakh were uncovered. The VACB has vowed to take stringent action against those involved in the scandal, ensuring that the rule of law is upheld in Kerala.