Railway parcel scam: Inter-divisional transfer recommended

CHENNAI: The commercial department of Chennai division of Southern Railway has recommended an inter-divisional transfer of five railway employees, who are

suspected

to be involved in a scam at the

parcel office

in

Chennai Central Railway Station

last week.


In a letter on November 16, the senior divisional commercial manager (Sr

DCM

) wrote to the senior divisional personnel officer (Sr DPO) stating that the employees were involved in serious irregularities at the parcel office and they should be transferred out of the Chennai division to conduct the inquiry in a fair manner.

“This is to avoid any interference by these employees in the inquiry which has been ordered,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity. It is a standard procedure when a staff is under investigation for a serious irregularity. Other than Chennai, SR has five divisions namely Tiruchirapalli, Salem, Madurai, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram.

The staff suspected to be involved are D Yuvaraj, A Karupuswamy, S Anthony D Cruz, H Khader Basha and C Thiyagarajan. Yuvaraj is the branch secretary of Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU), the sole recognised employees union.

The five were suspended after 11 cartons of vests booked for delivery from Chennai to Howrah allegedly went missing.

All five reported sick for duty after being transferred to Egmore and Nungambakkam from Central. They are alleged to have forcefully taken away the parcels secured by the chief commercial inspector (CCI) during a check at the station on November 13.

The parcels are yet to be traced and no case has been registered despite a complaint with Railway Protection Force (RPF).

Chennai Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Naveen Gulati on Tuesday told TOI that it was an administrative issue. The transfer will have to be decided by the SR headquarters. General Manager R K Kulshreshtha did not respond to calls.

A Janakiraman, working president of Dakshin Railway Employees Union (DREU),a rival union, told TOI that there was immense pressure on railway officers to settle the case, as the union elections were coming up in a few months. “Inter-divisional transfer is a standard procedure, but we don’t know if it will be executed,” he said.

SRMU general secretary N Kanniah told TOI that there was no scam and that there was a three-day delay from when the parcels were booked and the employees suspended. “What was the railway administration doing for three days,” he asked.

Kanniah defended Yuvaraj stating that it was a conspiracy against him and that he was an upright employee.

Meanwhile, an association of parcel agents has written to Gulati alleging corruption against a few parcel supervisors at Central station. The letter was forwarded by ADRM K Manoj to Gulati with an endorsement, few days ago. Incidentally the supervisors named by them were those who flagged the issue of 11 missing parcels. Janakiraman said this was part of a plan to take action against the whistle-blowers of the

parcel scam

.


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