The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) “visited” the Public Works Department (PWD) headquarters here on Wednesday to gather documents related to a complaint alleging a scam in the ongoing dismantling of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Corridor in south Delhi.
The complaint, filed by BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma with the anti-graft unit two days ago, alleged a Rs. 15 crore scam in the scrapping of the Rs. 180-crore road project built under the Congress regime in 2008. The ACB exercise was termed a “raid” by senior functionaries of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Special Commissioner of Police (ACB) Mukesh Kumar Meena, however, rejected the government’s allegation and said the exercise was a routine one with the objective of gathering documents related to the dismantling of the 6.2-km-long road project which began in January this year.
“The complaint was filed recently and is currently at the stage of a preliminary enquiry, which is why documentation related to it is being collected. A raid is conducted only on the basis of a case which has been registered, not simply on a complaint,” Mr. Meena told The Hindu.
Mr. Sisodia took to Twitter to announce that the “ACB has raided the office of PWD”, following it up with another tweet in which he interpreted it as a reaction to the Supreme Court order restoring the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh.
“It seems that the Centre has not learnt its lesson from the Arunachal setback,” he tweeted, adding that he was the one who initiated the dismantling of the BRT corridor on public request and would “be proud to go to jail for fulfilling people’s demand”.
More such “visits” scheduled
Sources privy to investigation in the case said more such “visits” were scheduled to be undertaken at PWD facilities to gather documents related to the dismantling process.
Refuting the allegations leveled by Mr. Sharma, Delhi PWD Minister Satyendar Jain said the tender for dismantling the BRT corridor was worth Rs. 3.91 crore and the payment made to the contractor amounted to Rs 3.1 crore.
Scrapping of the BRT corridor was one of the poll promises of the AAP, which took a dig at the former Sheila Dikshit government for alleged copy-paste work.
The AAP government has been alleging that the ACB has been targeting its leaders with vindictive attitude and putting hurdles in implementation of various welfare projects. It has been severely critical of Mr. Meena, appointed by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, whose transfer order was recently stayed.
