THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following the discovery that agents and officials have been extorting money from the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) is gearing up to investigate frauds of the last five years. The VACB has already found huge irregularities by examining the transactions of the last two years alone.

Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham said that there was a planned attempt to extort money from the relief fund. He added that in order to determine the scope of the scam, vigilance officials have begun inspecting the revenue offices and applicants' homes. Upon examining 110 applications in Palakkad yesterday, it was found that 30 medical certificates were issued by the same doctor. In some districts, financial aid was also given without a medical certificate. The VACB also found that money was extorted from the relief fund in the name of those who received the accident insurance amount after vehicle accidents.

Only when two persons, who had sought for financial aid but had not received it for months, called the chief minister's office to inquire about it did the government learn that agents were extorting money from the relief fund. Following this, the government entrusted the VACB with the investigation. Most of the irregularities were found in Kollam and Kottayam districts. Most offices do not maintain physical files for online applications. This is why the inspection takes time. Inspections continued in all districts yesterday. According to the VACB, there won't be any obstacles to submitting new applications or sanctioning money for ongoing ones. Officers handling the section of Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund in Collectorates will be questioned.