CBI books NBCC CMD for graft in Rs 2,150 cr Pragati Maidan revamp project

The CBI also arrested government official Pradeep Kumar Mishra and Akashdeep Chauhan on Friday

The CBI has booked NBCC chairman- cum-managing director (CMD) Anoop Kumar Mittal for alleged corruption in the Rs 2,150 crore re-development project of ITPO Complex at Pragati Maidan here, arrested a government official and another person in connection with the case, agency officials said here on Saturday.

The CBI arrested government official Pradeep Kumar Mishra and Akashdeep Chauhan on Friday night and carried out searches in Ghaziabad, Delhi, and Mumbai, sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said.

Residential and official premises of Mittal were not searched, they added.

Mishra and Chauhan have been sent to four-day police custody by a special CBI court on Saturday.

The agency alleged in the FIR that a contract was awarded to a joint venture of Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Pvt. Ltd. and Shapoorji Pallonji Qatar WLL for Rs 2,149.93 crore by NBCC (India) Limited, and Mumbai-based Capacite Structures was trying to get the work from Shapoorji Pallonji on a subcontract basis.

Surprisingly, according to the CBI FIR, the deal for sub-contract of Rs 2,149.93 crore was influenced by a government official who had demanded a Royal Enfield bike as an illegal gratification to exert his influence on Mittal and get the deal swung in favour of Capacite Structures.

It is alleged that Sanjay Kulkarni, Managing Director of Capacite Structures, approached a middleman, Rishabh Agrawal, having good contacts with public servants for bagging the sub-contract.

The FIR alleged Agrawal approached Pradeep Kumar Mishra, a public servant who is close to certain senior functionaries of NBCC Ltd.

Mishra assured Agrawal the sub-contract would go to Capacite Structure if he was given a new Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle which was agreed by Kulkarni, the FIR alleged.

Under the influence of Mishra, Mittal "strongly directed" the Executive Director of NBCC to settle the matter in favour of Capacite Structures, it alleged.

The CBI said that in furtherance of the conspiracy, a meeting was held on December 15, 2017, between Kulkarni, representative of Shapoorji Pallonji including Sanjay Kharkhanis and senior officials of NBCC including Gupta.

After the meeting, Mittal assured Kulkarni and Mishra about getting the work from Shapoorji Pallonji and that if Capacite Structure does not get work, he would "ensure that it would not be given to anyone else", the FIR alleged.

The agency arrested Mishra while he was allegedly receiving the promised bike as illegal gratification from Akashdeep Chouhan, a staff of Kulkarni, the sources said.

The agency has filed FIR against Mittal, Mishra, Kulkarni, Agrawal, and Chouhan for criminal conspiracy and corruption.