A retired Public Works Department (PWD) official and owners of two private firms were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government in connection with a ‘scam’ uncovered during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Rs-200 crore ‘scam’ pertains to the approval and execution of work orders for eight Delhi government hospitals, said officials. PWD officials were found to have paid private firms and contractors for either no work or incomplete work using fake or forged bills, they said.
Anil Kumar Ahuja, a former Assistant Director General of the PWD and then chief engineer (health zone) of PWD, and firm owners Vinay Kumar and Akshitiz Birmani were identified as the accused. During the ACB’s probe, officials said several large-scale irregularities, malpractices, and embezzlement of government funds involving PWD officials in collusion with private firms/contractors were discovered.
It was found that Ahuja allegedly gave his approval to 56 works awarded to 10 firms during the pandemic without differentiating between ‘emergent’ and ‘urgent’ work. The ACB also discovered financial transactions worth around Rs 1.25 crore between Ahuja and one of the firms. This firm also transferred Rs 6 lakh to Ahuja’s daughter-in-law’s account in 2020, claimed officials.
Further, firms and contractors failed to provide e-way bills for the material purchased and submitted material purchase invoices 4-6 months after their work had already been completed.
There were numerous violations of tender conditions and GST norms as well, said officials. In some cases, spot quotations, bid comparisons, and tender awards were all completed in a single day during the lockdown, indicating possible forgery.
“A comprehensive investigation is underway to unearth the whole conspiracy and fix the role and culpability of all officials, private firms and contractors involved. A proposal to obtain previous approval under Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to investigate against remaining erring PWD officials has been forwarded to the competent authority,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Anti-Corruption Branch) Madhur Verma.
[ad_2]
Source link
