The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested the then executive engineer and senior assistant of the Irrigation Department in Uttar Pradesh for their alleged role in irregular implementation of the “Gomti River Channelisation” and “Gomti River Front Development” projects.
The accused have been identified as Roop Singh Yadav, the executive engineer who was earlier posted with the Lucknow Division Sharda Canal and also held the additional charge of the then superintending engineer of XII Circle; and senior assistant Raj Kumar Yadav. The first accused has now retired.
“The two accused were on Friday produced before a special court which granted the agency their four-day remand,” said a CBI official.
The agency had registered the FIR on November 30, 2017, following a reference from the State government and notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training. The case was earlier lodged at Gomti Nagar police station in Lucknow.
It is alleged that there were several irregularities in the implementation of the projects involving about ₹1,500 crore. The notice inviting tender (NIT) for the works was not published and the funds were diverted.
There was a pooling of tenders in four major works of the Gomti River Front Development project, that included the construction of diaphragm wall, construction of intercepting trunk drain, construction of rubber dam and preparation of vision documents, said the agency.
The agency said the accused persons favoured some contractors and executed the agreements with them on the basis of forged documents without the publication of NIT in newspapers.
In the FIR, the CBI had named the then Chief Engineers Gulesh Chandra, Qazim Ali and S.N. Sharma; the then Superintendent Engineers Akhil Raman, Shiv Mangal Yadav, Roop Singh Yadav and Kamaleshwar Singh; and Executive Engineer Surendra Yadav.
