Fifty four cr scam in Garrison unearthed budget misused for bogus work: CBI
Hyderabad: The CBI has unearthed an alleged maintenance fraud worth crores in the Military Engineering Service of Mudfort in Secunderabad. It has registered an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Garrison Engineer, Utility M.K. Deepak. Searches were conducted at his office and residence at Mudfort on Saturday.
A CBI source said, “Based on the information we received, over a period of time, the garrison engineer and others, in the name of maintenance, have been misappropriating funds. We have booked a case under Section 13 (1)(d) of PC Act, Sections 120 B for criminal conspiracy and 420 IPC for cheating, and conducted searches.”
CBI has alleged in the FIR that despite there being no need for repairs, the accused misused the defence maintenance budget.
The CBI has alleged in the FIR that despite there being no need for repairs, the accused misused the defence maintenance budget to the tune of crores of rupees every year and caused losses to the exchequer.
“Ever year, Rs 54 crore is being spent on electrical maintenance works of military quarters, military hospital, AOC swimming pools, replacement of transformers coils, bulbs, switchboards and other electrical equipment in the Secunderabad Cantonment area, which falls under the Mudfort garrison office limits.It is suspected that at least 25 to 30 per cent of these works are bogus. The alleged fraud may have taken place in the award of contracts and it is going on for the past three years. The budget is allocated every year and they were repeating the repair and replacement works every year in the name of maintenance. Each contract is worth Rs 15 lakh and there are awarded every year to contractors,” said a source.
According to defence sources, Deepak is a civil service engineer working in Garrison of MES. The Sothern Command Vigilance of military also conducted checks and is preparing a detailed report on the alleged irregularities.
CBI investigation found that in one instance, lakhs of rupees were wasted in the repair of a laundry plant in the military hospital.
“The plant originally costs '16 lakh, but every year they have spent Rs 8 lakh on it for the past few years; the total amount spent on it is around Rs 32 lakh. They could have got a new one instead. For replacing any major parts of plant or equipment, a garrison inspector has to certify that they are beyond economic repair but in most cases certificates are not taken.”
Though the garrison engineer is entitled to grant 75 works every year, in 2013 and 2014, he had executed several works beyond his capacity said the CBI.
Around 2,025 works were executed in a year. The garrison engineer has been claiming that they were ratified by higher officials.
“Another irregularity is syndicate and ring tendering where the price is fudged. Instead of going for competitive pricing, contractors form a ring or syndicate and get information regarding the base price fixed leaked to them, and tenders are filed in such a way that the authorities won’t get the best competitive price in the market. Instead of cancelling the tender, the official has been facilitating them,” said a CBI source.
Around 23 contracting works have been identified so far wherein syndicate or ring tendering took place. In an operation theatre in the Military Hospital, they have replaced each bulb worth Rs 9,000 every year.
Officials also found that log books and plant record books were not maintained properly.
