HYDERABAD: Railway contractor Ijaz Farooqi used to hire retired railway officers to oversee the functioning of his illegal activities in the Indian Railways.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials finished search operations at his residence in Tarnaka and seized cash, documents and incriminatory material from his possession. The raids follow allegations that Farooqi was involved in a Rs 100 crore fraud in the department. He apparently colluded with officials from Indian Railway to enhance the value of projects of several contracts for construction of bridges, development of tracks and maintenance. Sources said that agency officials served a notice asking him to appear before them for questioning.
His family members are associated with railway contract works for the past ten years. They have done major projects at different places and allegedly submitted fake bills by luring officials and obtained amounts over and above the original quotation for tenders.
A few days ago, the CBI registered three different cases in connection with irregularities in assigning tenders and contracts to ineligible individuals and companies for undertaking railway projects.
It was reported that the agency found Rs 100 crore funds in the form of contracts paid to contractors, including to Farooqi. Meanwhile, his staff and kin assaulted media persons who went to his residence for covering the developments and taking pictures.
