Uncounted money seized from TNPCB official in Vellore

VELLORE: A joint team of the District Inspection Cell Bureau (

DICB

) and the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption seized Rs 33.7 lakh

unaccounted money

from a rented house and a car of a Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board officer at Virudhampet in

Vellore

on Tuesday night.

M Paneerselvam, 57, who is a joint chief environmental engineer attached to TNPCB Gandhi Nagar office, had confessed that the seized unaccounted money was bribe he had collected from private firms to issue pollution clearance certificates, said

DVAC

deputy superintendent of police K S Hemachitra.

Based on the confession of Paneerselvam, the team began searches at his residence in

Ranipet

.

DVAC inspector S Vijay said, “Paneerselvam, a native of Ranipet district , has been staying in a rented house in Virudhampet to handle his illegal dealings. We seized Rs 33.7 lakh -- including Rs 31.2 lakh from his rented house and Rs 2.5 lakh from his official car. The search is still underway. The total amount could be revealed only later.”

Paneerselvam is in charge of six TNPCB offices -- Vellore , Villupuram , Hosur , Tiruvannamalai , Vaniyambadi and Dharmapuri . Paneerselvam, who was earlier working as district environmental officer in Vaniyambadi, was recently promoted as joint chief environmental engineer.