The Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has launched a preliminary enquiry into allegations of forgery, cheating and fraud against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his brother-in-law and a Delhi Government employee for alleged irregularities in the grant of contracts for roads and sewer lines by the Public Works Department.
Case of cheating
The action comes days after the complainant, Roads Anti-Corruption Organisation (RACO), moved a court after having failed to get a criminal case of cheating filed at a local police station here.
Lawyer Kislay Pandey, who had first approached the police on behalf of RACO founder Ahul Sharma, had submitted that there were irregularities in the award of contracts for construction of roads and sewer lines by the Chief Minister, his brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal, who runs a construction company Messrs Renu Construction, and P.K. Kathuria, then PWD Executive Engineer posted in north Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh.
He had sought lodging of a case against them for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
“From the records retrieved and other sources, it has come out that Mr. Surender Kumar Bansal operates Messrs Renu Construction Company and various other dummy companies in order to obtain contracts by way of fraud in criminal connivance with government servants posted at PWD,” the complaint alleged and cited RTI replies and other enquiries to back his claim.
Fake bills
RACO, an NGO which monitors public works, alleged that Mr. Bansal had submitted fake bills and invoices to the PWD.
The complainant also claimed to have spoken to other employees of the PWD who expressed inability to help complete the projects ‘without any irregularities’, as the Chief Minister was ‘backing’ the other two accused. He also quoted a Superintendent Engineer of the PWD claiming that the money ‘siphoned off’ was to ‘help’ Mr. Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party to contest the Punjab and Goa Assembly elections.
Mr. Pandey said the total loss to the exchequer was to the tune of ₹9 to ₹10 crore in the form of payments made to clear 100 bills.
He said the PWD had already ‘confirmed’ by RTI reply that the money had been disbursed and credited to the bank account, contrary to the State Government’s claims that not a penny had been paid to Messrs Renu Construction and hence there was no loss to the public exchequer.
A senior police officer said the IP Estate police station transferred the complaint to EOW and there were “sufficient grounds” to launch an enquiry but did not divulge further details.
‘Payment stopped’
The officials in the PWD said the payment to the contractor was stopped after they found that the drain work wasn’t done. “The payment was stopped and the department took necessary action,” said an official.
“It is mischievous and malicious and doesn’t merit any response. The police are trying to malign the CM,” said a government spokesperson.
