Flood relief: Retd govt surveyor gets one-year jail term

Surat: A retired government surveyor, now 75, was sentenced to one year in prison after being convicted in a fraud case involving compensation meant for victims of the devastating 2005 floods.According to case details, heavy rain in 2005 caused flooding in areas such as Bhestan. To provide relief to affected residents, 23 teams were formed to conduct damage surveys. During the exercise, surveyor Hosang Nalladaru allegedly falsely listed three workers employed at a bungalow in the Parle Point area as flood-affected beneficiaries and issued them relief tokens.
However, during a cross-check, the three beneficiaries were questioned and confirmed that they worked at the bungalow and that there had been no flooding in their area.Following this, Natwar Parsottambhai, an employee of the City Mamlatdar's office, detained the three workers and, along with Nalladaru, who had issued the tokens, filed a complaint with the Chowk Bazaar police.The case proceeded against four accused for allegedly presenting bogus beneficiaries to defraud the government treasury. Accused Mohan Vasava and Rakesh Vasava were later dropped from the case following their deaths, while a separate trial continues against Manish Vasava.Nalladaru was sentenced to one year of imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000. In its judgment, the court observed that attempting to defraud the government during a disaster such as a flood, instead of helping victims, is a serious offence that cannot be taken lightly.