Siliguri scam took hawala route Kickbacks in the Rs 200-crore Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) scam, in which former Malda DM Godala Kiran Kumar is a prime accused, went through the hawala route. Investigations have revealed that Rs 12.8 crore was paid to two SJDA officials to gain favours. Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has recently attached 27 bank accounts with a balance of Rs 17.89 crore in connection with the case, has traced the links that were used to send money to the accused. It has also discovered the network, through which promoters transferred money to a relative of an official through illegal money carriers. The breakthrough came after we broke one of the carriers who transferred money to one of the prime accuseds father-in-law, said an ED official. According to ED sources, an official of the private firm Eureka Traders Bureau transferred Rs 6.8 crore to the officials father-in-law in Chennai. To evade investigators, the amount was routed through a web of carriers. There was no trace of the money in the officials account, but his wife may have been paid from that amount, said the ED official. Similarly, another official was paid Rs 6 crore through illegal money transfer channels, which was distributed among officials in the lower rungs. When the tender was floated, Kumar was the chief executive of SJDA. In 2012, tenders were issued for construction of electric furnaces at six crematoria in Malbazar, Maynaguri and Bagdogra. Tenders were also issued for construction materials and equipment. Of the total Rs 60 crore spent on the project, more than 60% was paid without any completion certificate. ED officials are trying to find out if any money has been paid to Kumars relatives. His wife Samanya Kiran, who contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Chittoor constituency on a YSR Congress ticket, was also interrogated by ED. The agency is also looking into transaction details of the company floated by her. The scam came to light after North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb became the development authoritys chairman in March 2013. SJDA chief executive Sharad Dwivedi lodged a complaint with Pradhan Nagar police, alleging that government norms had been violated while hiring a private construction firm for building three electric crematoria and two sewage treatment plants in Siliguri. Later, Siliguri police interrogated Kumar and seven others, including two SJDA engineers and an assistant engineer and representatives of two construction firms, were arrested. News Courtesy :- Times Of India
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 16:48:09 +0000
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