The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged Arora Associates with making massive misappropriation in the Karipur International Airport runway expansion works, risking the life of the public.
The CBI made the accusation in a charge sheet filed before the CBI Special Court II in Kochi on Wednesday in a case relating to the irregularities in the runway constructions.
Six persons have been arraigned as accused in the case. They are Prakash Kachnger, Senior Manager Airports Authority of India (AAI); L Sreedharan, AAI Senior Assistant Manager; B.R. Arora Associates, New Delhi; B.R. Arora and M.P. Madhu Nair, directors Arora Associates; and Veerander Singh, Project Engineer of the company.
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Eighth accused Raman Sharma, former senior engineer; Vijaykumar, ninth accused, and 10th accused M.P. Satheesh, have been made approvers in the case. Former assistant manager Bino Babu has been exempted from the case.
According to the CBI charge sheet, Madhu Nair had stolen and forged some of the invoices of Indian Oil Corporation, Kolkata, with respect to the supply of bitumen.
The tender for the construction work of the runway was awarded to Arora Associates in 2009 for Rs.23 crore following a decision of the AAI to expand the runway for operating big aircrafts.
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Three layers
The bitumen purchased from Indian Oil Corporation was used for laying three layers of the runway. The company reduced the use of bitumen by 25 percentage.
The CBI charged that Prakash Kachnger and N. Sreedharan, the first and second accused, after accepting bribe from the company, did not report to the AAI about the irregularities in the supply of bitumen.
The CBI raided the office of the company and registered a case in 2010 on a tip-off.