Delhi: ACB files three FIRs for alleged irregularities in public works contracts
A company owned by Arvind Kejriwal’s brother-in-law, who is now dead, has been named in one of the complaints.
The Anti-Corruption Branch has filed three First Information Reports in connection with alleged irregularities in the grant of contracts for road and sewage projects by the Delhi government, PTI reported on Tuesday. One of the FIRs has been lodged against Renu Construction, a firm owned by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s brother SK Bansal. Incidentally, Bansal died of a stroke on Sunday.
ACB chief Mukesh Meena said the FIRs were filed on the basis of a complaint by a Rahul Sharma of the Roads Anti-Corruption Organisation, The Times of India reported. Sharma sought an investigation into the role of the chief minister in handing out contracts to benefit his relative.
Bansal, then the proprietor of Renu Construction, had allegedly been given the contract to build drainage systems in North West Delhi’s Bakoli village in April 2015, the ACB said. The company allegedly siphoned off around Rs 10 crore by showing false receipts for material that was never purchased. Renu Construction also set up several dummy companies to get government contracts repeatedly without arousing suspicion, Sharma alleged. Kejriwal, however, has not been named in the FIRs.
The AAP chief has been at the receiving end of several allegations of corruption levelled by former Water Minister Kapil Mishra. Mishra has accused Kejriwal and his ministers of irregularities in fund management and outright bribery. He also said he saw illegal cash being exchanged between the Delhi chief minister and Power Minister Satyendar Jain. Mishra has further accused AAP leaders of using the ill-gotten wealth to go on trips abroad.