The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) arrested a Foreman Grade-I of the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) after he allegedly accepted a Rs 5 lakh bribe to facilitate an additional electricity load connection for a commercial building in Guindy, Chennai.
According to the DVAC, the complainant, Sasikumar, a resident of Perambur, had applied at the office of the Assistant Engineer, TNPDCL, Guindy, to increase the sanctioned electricity load for his commercial building from 5 KW to 49 KW. Assistant Engineer Sathyamoorthy allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh from him for providing the additional load connection.
Sasikumar allegedly approached the DVAC after deciding not to pay the demanded amount. The Chennai detachment of the anti-corruption agency registered a case and organised a trap operation on Wednesday, October 21, according to the report.
During the operation, Foreman Grade-I John De Brito allegedly demanded and accepted Rs 5 lakh from Sasikumar on the instructions of Sathyamoorthy, the DVAC said. De Brito was arrested in connection with the case.
The case places an everyday urban utility process—the approval of an increased power load for a commercial property—at the centre of an alleged bribery investigation. Electricity-load approvals are an important administrative step for commercial buildings whose operations require substantially more power than their existing sanctioned connection allows.
The allegation also names an Assistant Engineer as the official who allegedly demanded the money, while the foreman is accused of accepting it during the trap. The source report did not state whether Sathyamoorthy had been arrested or provide details of any departmental action against him.
Further action in the case is expected to follow, according to the DVAC account cited in the report.
