Relief material to provide first aid and medical support for Kerala flood victims, being loaded on IAF aircraft C-17 at Halwara Air Force Station, in Punjab. | Photo Credit: IANS

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala police arrested two government officials in Wayanad district for the embezzlement of relief materials on Friday. According to a senior police official, the arrests were made based on a complaint received from another senior government official. The two accused, S Thomas and MP Dinesh were loading the relief materials into a vehicle when they were stopped by residents at a relief camp Panamaram village.

Upon inquiry, Thomas and Dinesh said that they were moving the materials to another camp in the village. But the residents called the police and upon interrogation, it was found that they had lied. To ensure proper distribution of the relief material, the state government has also sent three-member teams of the Revenue Department led by Land Records Director Basant Garg but reports about the theft of relief materials are coming from different camps.

Meanwhile, a similar incident was also reported from Chengannur where the accused was a temporary government official.

Relief materials have been coming into Kerala from various places ever since the heavy monsoon rains hit the state on May 29 followed by subsequent floods leading to some 370 deaths and displacing over a million people from their homes.

Kerala is facing the worst calamity in 94 years due to incessant rain. The state now faces another challenge of rehabilitation and reconstruction. According to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, the number of relief camps has come down from 3,314 to 2,774 and they now house 1 million people, down from the earlier 1.2 million as the water has started receding.

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